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Marquette faces Seneca in Week 8 of the 2024 IHSA football season. Friday Night Drive reporter Charlie Ellerbrock will have live updates, scores and news from the game.
What to know
Marquette vs. Seneca kickoff: 7 p.m.
Where: Seneca High School
About the Crusaders: Marquette Academy almost certainly is in the playoffs, but there’s a big difference between being a 5-4 at-large team likely playing an undefeated team on the road to open the postseason and being a 7-2 squad with a reasonable hope of hosting another at-large team in the opening round. That difference, in addition to natural geographic rivalries, is what the Crusaders will be playing for these final two weeks as they rematch with a Seneca team they lost to 48-13 in Week 3 and a Dwight/GSW team Marquette defeated 26-21 in Week 4. Marquette’s wing-T has produced multiple single-game leaders such as RB Grant Dose and his 184 yards and five TDs in last week’s win over Aurora Central Catholic, but the defense deserves its accolades as well after allowing 24 or fewer points in five of the Cru’s six games played on the field this season. It will have its work cut out, though, continuing that trend.
About the Fighting Irish: Seneca is coming off a forfeit bye from Walther Christian, the same as Marquette received the week before. Excluding that official 1-0 result, the Fighting Irish haven’t truly been challenged this season, outscoring their opponents by an average score of 43.3-11.5 – not that far off from the result the first time the Irish played the Crusaders. It’s reasonable to expect a closer result this time around, much like nearby Ottawa and La Salle-Peru’s second meeting this season. To get there Marquette will have to find a way to slow down power-T standouts such as RBs Brody Rademacher, Nick Grant and Cameron Shriey, as well as QB Paxton Giertz. This game will decide the champion of the Chicagoland Prairie Conference, which Seneca won in the league’s inaugural season in 2023.
FND pick: Seneca
Postgame analysis:
Join us at 9:30 p.m. for Live with Friday Night Drive