In an afternoon in which he carried the ball more times and for more yards than any other St. Laurence running back since the school starting keeping records in 1970, Joe Martinez couldn’t carry his teammates any longer.
After being run over and run through by Martinez for 47 minutes and 13 seconds, the Fenwick defense had had enough.
With 47 seconds left, Fenwick stopped Martinez on fourth-and-5 at the Friars’ 16-yard line, 2 yards short of a first down, to preserve a 22-20 victory.
It was about the only time Fenwick (4-0, 2-0 Catholic Metro White) stopped Martinez. The senior running back carried the ball 51 times for 314 yards and three touchdowns. It’s the third straight week he’s rushed for more than 200 yards.
“I told the kids after the game they beat a heck of a kid and his teammates,” Fenwick coach Paul Connor said. “(Martinez) is the best high school player I have ever seen. Not only can he break away, but he also breaks tackles.”
“It was the best performance I’ve ever seen,” St. Laurence coach Sean Mele said.
A botched exchange between the St. Laurence center and quarterback on a two-point attempt with 10:54 remaining was the difference. Martinez had just scored on a 59-yard run to pull the Vikings (1-3, 0-2) to within two points.
The Vikings still had a chance for the upset in the final minute, but then Fenwick finally denied Martinez. It was quite an effort from a defense that allowed 221 of Martinez’s yards in the second half.
“We ran one of the plays we scored on earlier,” Martinez said of the fourth-down play. “(Fenwick) was ready for it. They cut down all the blockers and I just ran into a pile of guys.”
A pile of guys who no doubt were as tired and sore from trying to tackle Martinez as he was trying to avoid them. At least Fenwick’s day was over at the final gun. Saturday was homecoming at St. Laurence, and Martinez had more moves to make on the dance floor in the evening. But it won’t be enough to wash away the disappointment of a game the Vikings thought they should have won.
“It was emotional,” Martinez said of the Vikings locker room. “(Mele) was crying. Everyone knew we had the game. We just made a few mental errors and had little mistakes.”
Mt. Carmel 42, Marian Catholic 0: Jim Smith rushed for 267 yards on 16 carries and scored two touchdowns as No. 1 Mt. Carmel (4-0, 2-0) cruised to the Catholic Metro Blue victory.
Loyola 35, St. Rita 20: No. 9 Loyola had a hard time shaking off pesky St. Rita, hanging on for the Metro Blue victory. Loyola led 21-7 at the half, but Rita (1-3, 1-1) pulled to within 28-20 in the fourth quarter. Loyola put the game away on Bill Pragalz’s 11-yard touchdown run with just more than four minutes remaining. Pragalz rushed for 193 yards to lead the Ramblers (4-0, 1-0).
Benet 21, Leo 0: Mike Lillwitz took an interception 33 yards for a touchdown, and Matt Fronczke returned a punt 75 yards for another touchdown for Benet (3-1, 2-0) in the Metro Green.
Bogan 42, Calumet 0: James Lee rushed for just 45 yards but scored three touchdowns, and Bogan recovered four fumbles in the Public League South-Central.
Buffalo Grove 26, Schaumburg 12: Nelson Gord rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown to lift Buffalo Grove in the non-conference game.
Carmel 29, Gordon 0: Quarterback Chris Gaulin rushed for 143 yards and two touchdowns and passed for another TD to lead the rout for Carmel (3-1, 1-1) in the Metro Catholic Green.
Glenbrook South 20, Deerfield 6: The Titans scored 20 unanswered points to even their record at 2-2 in the non-conference matchup. Brian Cosmano led Glenbrook with 216 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
Highland Park 22, Waukegan 21: Cesar Small’s 3-yard touchdown run with 1:48 remaining gave Highland Park (2-2) the victory.
Hillcrest 44, T.F. North 6: Sophomore Willie Smith rushed for 74 yards and two touchdowns on just five carries to pace Hillcrest (2-2, 1-0) in the SICA Green.
Lake Forest 35, North Chicago 28: Lake Forest rallied with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the game-winner coming with 17 seconds remaining, to take the North Suburban game. Aaron Towle scored from the 3 for the game-winner. Towles had 17 carries for 95 yards and three TDs. Teammate Andrew Magda, who tied the game with a 3-yard run earlier in the quarter, rushed for 165 yards on 27 carries. After falling behind 28-14 at the half, Lake Forest (3-1, 1-1) held North Chicago (0-4, 0-2) to just 6 yards of offense in the second half.
Luther South 27, Aurora Christian 8: Daniel Rush took the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and added scoring runs of 11 and 10 yards for Luther South (1-3, 1-1) in the Private School League.
Marmion 48, Marian Central Catholic 0: Tom Koutsos rushed for 208 yards and three touchdowns to lead Marmion (4-0, 2-0) in the Suburban Catholic.
Montini 21, Aurora Central Catholic 0: Pat McGady threw touchdown passes to Brandon Bartolucci and Chris Pestel to lead Montini (3-1, 2-0) in the Suburban Catholic.
Niles North 28, Maine East 12: Raqaq Alebiosi had touchdown runs of 4, 9 and 8 yards among his 86 yards rushing to lead Niles North (2-2) in the Central Suburban crossover.
Oak Park 48, York 7: Joel Nealy returned the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown and Oak Park (3-1, 2-0) then intercepted a pass on York’s first play from scrimmage and returned that for a touchdown in the West Suburban Silver rout.
Rich Central 30, Grant 20: Guy Smith rushed for 175 yards on just 12 carries to lead Rich Central (1-3) to its first victory of the season.
Ridgewood 49, Westmont 7: Sam Paluzzo rushed for 225 yards and three touchdowns to lead Ridgewood in the Suburban Prairie White. Paluzzo has 15 touchdowns in four games.
St.Francis 28, Immaculate Conception 0: St. Francis (4-0, 2-0) scored all its points in the first half and held Immaculate Conception to just 26 yards of offense in the Suburban Catholic.
St. Viator 23, Hales Franciscan 18: Jarrett Payton’s 24-yard pass to Joe Starr with 2:11 remaining was the game-winner for St. Viator (3-1, 2-0) in the Catholic Metro Red. St. Viator won despite turning the ball over eight times. Payton passed for a career-high 153 yards and two touchdowns.
Walther Lutheran 22, Chicago Christian 20: Arterio Doyle rushed 24 times for 135 yards and a touchdown as Walther Lutheran (3-1, 1-0) squeaked out the Private School League victory.
Westinghouse 40, Kelvyn Park 0: DeShaun Altson carried 14 times for 209 yards and scored on runs of 11, 21, 25, 53 yards for Westinghouse in the Public League North-Central.
