Seneca’s balanced ground game powers 40-0 victory over Lisle

SENECA – All the Seneca Fighting Irish ballcarriers got in on the fun during Friday’s 40-0 home taming of the Lisle Lions.

From the first drive of the game, Seneca set the tone with a 56-yard rushing touchdown from senior running back Brody Rademacher.

On Lisle’s first play from scrimmage on the ensuing possession, Seneca senior defensive back Paxton Giertz intercepted a short route and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown.

Seneca was up on the Lions 14-0 just two minutes into the game, and the scoring didn’t stop there.

The Irish made sure to spread the wealth on the ground all night long, giving 10 different players carries and amassing 391 total rushing yards as a team.

Making the most of his touches was Rademacher, who had 12 carries for 193 yards and three touchdowns, including 139 yards on the ground in the first half.

Rademacher gave full credit to his offensive line for his success.

“It’s all on them. I really couldn’t have found the holes I did tonight without them,” Rademacher said.

Seneca coach Terry Maxwell also praised his offensive line’s performance, especially considering the challenge of replacing all of their starters from last season.

“We lost all seven up front from last year, and they were a heck of a group – extremely talented and very strong,” Maxwell said. “These guys learned a lot from playing against them on the scout team last year, and I think it really helped them grow. They wanted to step into those shoes, and so far they’re doing a great job.”

For Lisle, the Lions offense struggled to find a rhythm all night long, totaling only 98 yards from scrimmage. Maxwell attributed the success to his defense’s growing cohesion.

Similar to the offensive line, the Fighting Irish defense also has many new faces at every level, having replaced nine starters from last year’s team.

“A lot of growing as a unit is starting to happen with these guys. They’re learning to communicate and play together, which is huge for any defense,” he said. “We’re starting to swarm, play downhill and recognize things from our scouting report. They’re really starting to jell as a unit, especially with nine new players.”

Although the Fighting Irish recorded only two sacks, they consistently put pressure on Lisle sophomore quarterback Nolan Ashmore throughout. Ashmore completed just 2 of 8 passes for 9 yards and threw two interceptions.

Maxwell explained the team’s approach to blitzing and getting pressure, noting that when his defense can get opposing offenses behind the sticks and pass rushers can pin their ears back, good things will happen as a result.

“When we can get a team backed up a little bit, we do like to bring some pressure,” he said. “We don’t blitz a lot, we like to read and react as a defense, but if we can get teams in favorable situations, that’s when we like to be aggressive.”

Seneca improves to 2-0 on the season and will travel to Ottawa in Week 3 to play rival Marquette.

Lisle, falling to 0-2, will host Wilmington next Friday.