Seneca’s practices set stage for big win at Marquette

OTTAWA – There were plenty in attendance at Marquette Academy’s Gould Stadium on Friday night that believed the Seneca Fighting Irish won their nonconference game against the Crusaders in the first 10 minutes, when the visitors scored 21 unanswered points to start a 48-13 victory.

But Irish coach Terry Maxwell knows the game was actually won days, if not a week, prior.

It was won, he insists, in practice.

Brody Rademacher rushed for 187 yards and touchdowns on each of his first three carries, on his way to a massive 224 yards and four scores on just 12 attempts, and quarterback Paxton Giertz completed 3 of 4 passes for 54 yards and two TDs as the Irish rolled to 432 yards of offense.

Practice also led the Seneca defense to limit a Marquette attack coming off a 400-yard, running-clock win at Madison, to just 118 ground yards and 206 total on the night.

All of it was a tribute, the coach said, to the ones between the lines on Seneca’s practice field the previous four days.

“I told the kids after the game tonight that this, what they did, was great,” Maxwell said, “but what happened here, the credit goes to our scout guys. They did a fantastic job all week getting us ready for the wing-T and simulating what Marquette does. You can actually read your keys and play the game if your scout team does its job, and I can’t say enough about our kids.

“They may not get into the spotlight on Fridays, but they did a heck of a job all week, and it’s huge. That’s what a lot of our game boiled down to – the preparation during the week. It was a total team effort.”

The 3A No. 8 ranked Irish (3-0) caught a break on the kickoff following Rademacher’s first score, a 78-yard jaunt four plays into their first series.

Giertz’s short kickoff rolled to the Marquette sideline untouched, and Wyatt Biffany beat everyone to the loose ball at the Cru 34. From there, Giertz hit on a 31-yard skinny post to Cameron Shriey that, with Giertz’s second kick, made it 14-0.

After a quick three-and-out for MA, Rademacher broke another one, this time 64 yards to give the Irish a 21-0 lead with still 4:47 left in the opening period.

“Tonight the holes were there. The line was blocking, and I just followed them, but I didn’t realize I had that,” Rademacher said of his fast start. “This was probably my best game. Last week (12 carries, 193 yards, 3 TDs vs. Lisle) was good, too. … Coming here and getting a win against a good team like Marquette means a lot for all of us.”

Marquette (1-2) did answer with its two touchdowns, a 38-yard sweep left/cut right by Jaxsen Higgins, followed by a Sam Mitre PAT. Then in the second quarter, the Crusaders got a 34-yard scoring strike from quarterback Anthony Couch to back Payton Gutierrez.

However, that second Cru score only cut into the Seneca lead to 28-13 because, in between, Rademacher added his third score, a 41-yarder on the first play of the period. Giertz later lobbed a 7-yard TD strike to Brady Sheedy to make it 42-13 at the break.

Seneca then ground out nearly all of the first 12 minutes of the third quarter, later adding Rademacher’s final touchdown, an 18-yard burst, in the fourth.

“That No. 24 (Rademacher) is pretty good. I would believe he had 200 yards (even) at halftime,” Marquette coach Tom Jobst said. “Their defense has a lot of speed, too. We were in deep right at the start.

“Seneca just came to play, they executed flawlessly, they came off the ball, they tackled, they did everything it takes to win. They’re a really good football team. All we can do is tip our hat to them and move on. We come in for practice on Monday, work on our basics, our fundamentals and start a new week.”