Logan Malachuk, Nazareth show no rust after bye week, blow out Benet

LA GRANGE PARK – After coming off a rare bye week due to a forfeit win against De La Salle, Nazareth immediately went to work scoring touchdowns on Friday night.

On the first play from scrimmage, Nazareth junior running back Lesroy Tittle broke loose and darted along the sidelines for a 59-yard touchdown.

[ Photos: Benet vs. Nazareth ]

And that was just the beginning of a TD filled night.

The Roadrunners had no issues with rust, scoring touchdowns in a variety of ways in a 62-14 blowout win over Benet in a CCL/ESCC crossover game in La Grange Park.

“I saw the outside was open and went to the outside and Trenton Walker had a great block and I just took off from there,” Tittle said. “It felt real good to score fast. We worked hard during the bye week. We knew we were going to be rusty this week, but we came out and did a great job.”

Nazareth (7-1, 2-0) lit up the scoreboard for 28 points in the first quarter to extend its winning streak to five in a row after losing to Mount Carmel in Week 3. Unlike last season’s slow start, the Roadrunners are rolling with momentum late in the regular season in their quest for a third straight state championship.

Nazareth senior quarterback Logan Malachuk, a two-time state champion, spearheaded the rout by tossing for 263 yards and five touchdowns – all in the first half. Walker was one of his main targets, catching five passes for 107 yards and two TDs. Senior James Penley had an efficient day with two receptions for 83 yards and a pair of TDs.

“The bye week prepared us even more because we had all those extra practices,” Walker said. “We got a lot of reps and that showed in the way we played tonight. We have a great offense, line and running back, so you are able to move the ball around like that, it makes it easier for me to perform and do my thing, plus to have a great quarterback like Logan Malachuk.”

The Roadrunners’ offense flexed their muscles to the tune of 396 yards in the first half, scoring on their first two offensive plays. In fact, the first four plays featured two touchdowns by the Roadrunners, a pass deflection and an interception by Indiana recruit Garrett Reese. The senior defensive back ripped the ball out of arms of a Benet wide receiver, setting up Malachuk’s 31-yard touchdown strike to Penley for a 14-0 edge just 65 seconds into the game.

“We wanted to come out strong and set a tone,” Reese said. “I saw the quarterback staring me down the whole time, so I knew he was going to throw it. I just undercut him and was thinking about bouncing the ball, but I wanted it so I ripped it out. It was a fun game. We worked for two weeks for this game. That really got us ready for this game.”

Malachuk went back to work finding the end zone, hitting junior wide receiver Jake Cestone for a 30-yard touchdown to pad the lead to 21-0. Four minutes later, Malachuk showed off his arm strength and accuracy with a 68-yard scoring toss to Walker to push the advantage to 28-0.

Even though the Redwings (5-3, 2-1) fell into an early hole that led to a tough defeat, Benet senior quarterback Ryan Kubacki Jr., who passed for 141 yards and a touchdown to go with two interceptions, did his best to move the chains by slowly dissecting Nazareth’s defense. Kubacki, on fourth down, lofted a picture-perfect TD pass to wide receiver Dominik Tomala.

Malachuk added a 3-yard TD pass to pad the lead to 35-7, but Kubacki answered with a 1-yard touchdown run to slice the deficit to 35-14. With 3:19 left in the second quarter, the game was halted for nearly 20 minutes due to an injury to a Benet player, forcing both teams to spend a few extra minutes to warm up and stretch before halftime.

Two plays after the re-start, Nazareth running back Charles Calhoun busted through the line, then shook off a tackle for a 9-yard touchdown for a 42-14 lead late in the second quarter.

Eighteen seconds later, Nazareth defensive back Edward McClain Jr. read the play, stepped in and intercepted a pass and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown for a 49-14 cushion. The Roadrunners’ offense wasn’t done, as Malachuk closed out an electric first half by finding Penley, smack in between two defenders, for a 52-yard TD to lift the lead to 56-14 with 14 ticks until half.

With a running clock in play for the entire second half, both teams rolled through a fast second half. Nazareth star linebacker Gabe Kaminski, a Stanford recruit, recorded two sacks in the first half to highlight a stunning three-way dominating performance by the Roadrunners.