It was just about a year ago when Fenwick began what appeared to be a promising football season with a 4-0 record. But the Friars won just one of their next five games to finish 5-4.
The Friars hope this year will be different.
After a 34-0 stomping of Leo Sunday in Oak Park, Fenwick, ranked No. 5 by the Tribune, is off to another promising start at 3-0.
And players who were members of last year`s disappointing finish insist it won`t happen again.
”It`s gonna be different this time,” said tailback Chris Stephens, who rushed for 113 yards and scored two touchdowns. ”We`ve got a lot of leadership on this team. We`re not going to let the team get down like we did last year.”
The Friars have a strong offensive line, which let Stephens and backfield mate Brian McCabe rack up yardage. McCabe also rushed for 113 yards Sunday, including a 38-yard touchdown run in the third period to give Fenwick a 12-0 lead.
Add an aggressive defense and the chances of the Friars repeating last year`s collapse are slim.
”You just can`t rely on the offense or the defense alone,” said McCabe. ”You`ve got to have them both; you`ve got to be a whole team.”
Added Stephens: ”The defense gets us the ball.”
The defense did just that against Leo (0-3), which has yet to score a touchdown this season.
Cornerback Tom Selimos intercepted a pass by Leo quarterback Jason Cook and ran the ball back to the Leo 5, setting up Fenwick`s first score, a 5-yard run by Stephens.
Fenwick didn`t score again until McCabe`s 38-yard sprint in the third period. The Friars took an 18-0 lead later in the period on Billy Gibbs` 43-yard punt return.
Fenwick then blew the game wide open after another big play by the defense, this time a fumble recovery by lineman Nick Braithwaite on the Leo 3- yard line. Stephens scored on the very next play and added the two-point conversion to give Fenwick a 26-0 lead with 11:06 to play.
Reserve running back Calvin Mims also got in on the action, scoring from a yard out with 5:21 left.
”We`re really complementing each other as a team,” said Fenwick coach Dick Ambrosino. ”The offense was faltering early, but the defense came on when it had to. One supported the other.”
Weber 34, St. Martin de Porres 0-Quarterback Kylan Griffin was the offensive star, but the real story was the Weber defense.
Weber (2-1) limited St. Martin to just 57 total yards and didn`t allow quarterback Damon Baine to complete a pass-except on interceptions.
Frank Escobar made the biggest defensive play, returning one of the team`s three interceptions 54 yards to make the score 26-0.
”He`s made some big plays for us this season,” said Weber coach Joe Sassano.
Weber got on the board first on Griffin`s 1-yard sneak in the first quarter.
Lorenzo James dashed over from 44 yards out later in the quarter and then Griffin (6 for 11, 101 yards) hit Mourad Guiragossian on a 20-yard strike to hike the lead to 20-0.
Griffin added another score on a 7-yard burst to cap the scoring.
”We more or less concentrated on getting our kids to execute this week, rather than worrying about our opponent,” said Sassano.
