The Saint Patrick Shamrocks moved to 2-0 with an exciting 21-14 victory over the Redhawks of Marist. The Shamrocks got contributions from a lot of sources. Quarterback Tom Barrett threw for 136 yards, connecting with Paul Lombardi for a pair of first half touchdowns. Dan O’Donnell rushed for 48 yards and the decisive third-quarter touchdown. Brandon Kreczmer turned in a dominant defensive performance with 15 tackles and three sacks.

Marist set the tone for the game on their first drive as they took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards on ten plays for the game’s first score. Scott Slubowski hit Jeremy Nash for a 30-yard touchdown down the left side, and it was 7-0 Redhawks. The Shamrocks were stopped on their opening drive, but Mike Kotz’s punt was muffed, and the Shamrocks recovered at the Marist 32. The Shamrocks capitalized quickly as Barrett hit Lombardi in the left corner of the end zone to knot the game at seven. Jeff Costa picked off a Slubowski pass on Marist’s next possession, and the Shamrocks were in business again at the Redhawk 18.

On the first play of the second quarter, Barrett hit Lombardi on an in pattern, and Lombardi raced through the Marist defense for an 11-yard touchdown to make it 14-7 Shamrocks. The two teams would have trouble getting anything going in the rest of the half. The Shamrock defense really clamped down after the game’s opening drive, yielding only two net yards on the next 14 plays.

Saint Patrick took the opening kickoff of the second half, and drove 70-yards in eight plays. O’Donnell’s five-yard run around left end, aided by a devastating Kreczmer block, made it 21-7 Saint Patrick. Marist answered with a long drive, and Saint Patrick seemed to have Marist stopped with third and long incompletion, but a roughing the passer penalty gave the Redhawks new life. Slubowski’s second touchdown throw to Nash, this one a 23-yarder on a jump ball, made it 21-14 Shamrocks with 2:03 remaining in the third quarter. The drive covered 82 yards on 13 plays and took 7:02 off the clock.

Both teams would move the ball in the fourth quarter, but neither team would score again. Two sacks by the Shamrock defense on Marist’s final drive would seal the deal. First Kreczmer and Joel Rivera would sack Slubowski, and then, on fourth and 14 from the Shamrock 37, Rivera and Renzo Mejia would combine to haul Slubowski down. The Shamrocks finished the night with seven sacks.

This week the Shamrocks travel to Mundelein to take on the Corsairs of Carmel at 7:30 Friday night.