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WOODSTOCK – Marian Central coach Liam Kirwan knew that his Hurricanes needed to lock-in at the right times to come away with a win against Chicago Christian.
One player who heard that message loud and clear was quarterback Cale McThenia. The senior accounted for seven touchdowns, five passing and two rushing, to lead the Hurricanes to a 49-34 Chicagoland Christian Conference game Friday a George Harding Field.
“Coach Kirwan pushed us all week about coming out fast, getting locked-in and our line played great, the receivers made plays and it was a lot of fun tonight,” McThenia said.
Marian Central’s (2-2, 2-0 CCC) first scores were rushing touchdowns, with McThenia scoring 6- and 11-yard runs. From there, the passing game flourished. Receiver Christian Bentancur was McThenia’s favorite target in the first half, connecting on touchdown passes of 36 and 30 yards to help the Hurricanes build a 35-14 halftime lead.
“Our scheme worked, we had a lot of energy being that is was Homecoming, and Cale is such a good quarterback, so talented, we really felt good moving the ball tonight,” Bentancur said.
It was much of the same in the second half, as McThenia added touchdown passes of 37 yards to Bentancur and 30 yards to Quinn Brady.
McThenia ended the night 34 of 43 passing for 461 yards, while also rushing for 83 yards on 12 carries. Bentancur finished with 10 catches for 202 yards and Tyson Jakubowicz had six catches for 127 yards and a touchdown.
While Chicago Christian (2-2, 0-2) put points on the scoreboard, the Marian Central defense made big plays when it was needed. The Hurricanes pressured the Knights’ quarterback, Christian Flutman, throughout the game. Bentancur had two sacks and another tackle for loss, senior linebacker Nate Sarfo had two sacks and Jakubowicz had an interception late in the game to seal the win.
“Our defense in the first half was great, we had a couple of breakdowns, though, in the second half, but we made the corrections and I was fortunate enough to read the slant on their last drive and make the pick,” Jakubowicz said.
When put all together, the Hurricanes moved closer to meeting one of Kirwan’s goals of playing a complete game.
“Obviously, we are very happy to win against a strong team like Chicago Christian, but heading into tonight we had not played a full four-quarters of consistent football and I feel we are heading in right direction with the effort we had tonight, we made plays when we needed to,” Kirwan said.
Chicago Christian was led by Flutman, who ended the game 20 of 30 passing for 280 yards with two touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown. The Knights’ Obadiah Goble had a 70-yard touchdown run on a fake punt and had a 50-yard touchdown reception.