In a way, T.J. Pappas is a refreshing kind of high school football player.
The Marian Central running back/linebacker doesn’t like to talk about himself.
“I’ve got nothing to say,” Pappas said after rushing for two touchdowns and returning an interception 45 yards for a third in No. 16 Marian’s 35-0 victory over Marmion on Saturday night at Fichtel Field in Aurora.
Appeals for one more response fell on deaf ears as Pappas sprinted to the team bus with the same urgency that helped him gain 92 yards on 21 carries.
“That’s just the way he is,” junior quarterback Andy Stochl said with a smile. “He would rather let his play on the field do all the talking for him.”
Stochl was making his first start in place of Jon Budmayr, who will miss two more games with a pulled hamstring.
“Of course there were butterflies on the first few plays,” Stochl said. “But taking a few snaps helped, and so did that long drive at the beginning of the game.”
Marian Central (4-0) ran off 13 plays on its opening possession and traveled 59 yards, with Pappas scoring from the 2-yard line.
On their next possession, the Hurricanes parlayed a 19-yard pass from Stochl to Erik Reibel and a Pappas 19-yard run into Reibel’s 1-yard TD plunge.
Marmion (2-2) hung tough for three quarters in this Suburban Catholic Conference game until the Hurricanes stormed to three touchdowns over an eight-minute span in the fourth quarter. Stochl finished with 179 total yards and a 2-yard TD run.
“I was the sophomore-team quarterback at Grant before transferring here, so I had played the position before,” Stochl said. “Switching to quarterback last week when Jon went down wasn’t that hard.
“Jon talked to me and gave me a lot of encouragement. He said to stick with the routes and receivers I’m most familiar with and to stay calm.”
Any apprehension Stochl had was quieted by a stellar defensive effort headed by linemen Sean Cwynar, Cody O’Neill, Brett Leahy and Patrick Wenzel. Along with Pappas and safety Jordan Peart, the Hurricanes registered their second straight shutout.
Marian, the Class 5A runner-up last year, received a scare in the third quarter when O’Neill went down.
“It’s just a sprained ankle,” O’Neill said. “I stayed on the sideline mostly for precautionary reasons. We can’t afford for any of us to get injured.”
O’Neill is right. With Budmayr’s injury, Marian has only 24 players on its roster.
———-
bsakamoto@tribune.com
