Senior quarterback Brandon McPherson noticed some daylight Friday night, and that was a good thing for Marmion.
The Cadets handled host St. Francis 42-14 in the Catholic League Green opener as McPherson produced four touchdowns, including three on the ground.
McPherson scored his first TD for Marmion (3-0, 1-0) on a 11-yard keeper just three minutes into the first quarter. He finished with eight carries for 46 yards.
“We saw a lot more openings today — they were blitzing a lot,” said McPherson, who also completed 8 of 12 passes for 98 yards. “We saw they liked to (blitz) and game planned well for it. We knew what we wanted to do and executed.”
Marmion coach Dan Thorpe insisted the win over the Spartans (1-2, 0-1) came earlier during the week in practice.
“We beat St. Francis on Monday and Tuesday,” Thorpe said. “We had incredibly great practices. We were focused. Excellent practices all week … In practice it’s been popping, just like (Friday).”
On the second drive of the first quarter, McPherson attacked the St. Francis defense through the air, finding Zach Urwiler on a slant route for a 31-yard TD.
Urwiler had three catches for 57 yards and also led all rushers with eight carries for 136 yards and one TD. Peter Ferraro added three catches for 26 yards.
“We’re more of a speed-back team this year,” Urwiler said. “In previous years, we had more power run. But this year, we finally have speed. It’s all about focus. When we focus like that in practice, it pays off in the games.”
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With just a couple minutes left in the second quarter, Urwiler burst free for an 81-yard rushing TD as the Cadets took a 28-0 lead into halftime.
Marmion had plenty of highlight plays, but the defining moment came during the final seconds of the third quarter. St. Francis gained momentum, pushing the Cadets out of field goal range with Marmion faced third-and-12.
But after the snap was fumbled, McPherson grabbed the football from the ground, broke through three tackles and capped the wild sequence with a 31-yard TD.
“McPherson is a big kid,” St. Francis coach Bob McMillen said. “He throws the ball really well and is strong. He’s able to break a lot of tackles. You’ve got to be able to stay at home and do your assignments against guys like him.
“We just gave up too many big plays (Friday).”
St. Francis eventually broke through Marmion’s defense with two late TDs on the ground from Patrick Dunlea and Sam Sidari.
“They were giving us some stunts up the middle, more than we could block.” Thorpe said. “But when we have a thrower like Brandon, we’re very blessed. We’ve still got to get better offensive line wise, but very happy with the victory.”
Josh Tolentino is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News.