CHICAGO — Benet forced turnovers and had chances to take control of the game on Friday night, but couldn’t put it together offensively against St. Patrick in a 27-9 loss at Hanson Stadium.
The Shamrocks had scored 117 points in their first two games and looked the part early on against Benet, as St. Patrick took the opening kickoff and drove for a quick touchdown. After that, the Redwings clamped down, intercepting Ryan Tentler three times and holding St. Patrick without another offensive score until the fourth quarter.
However, the offense failed to turn those turnovers into any points.
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“The D's kept us in the game every game," said Benet quarterback Nick Mankowski, who was 20 of 40 passing or 209 yards with one touchdown and one interception. "It's up to us to reward them."
Mankowski was the focal point of the Benet attack, rushing 25 times for 73 yards, most of them of the hard-earned variety. He picked up two fourth-down conversions scrambling and threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Hayes in the fourth quarter.
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Kyle Dal Santo opened the second half scoring with a 28-yard field goal to cut the St. Patrick lead to 14-3, but that would be as close as Benet got as the Redwings fell to 0-3 on the season.
Hayes, who now has both of Benet’s touchdowns on the season, caught six passes for 91 yards. Jack Euritt had seven receptions for 81 yards.
The Shamrocks (3-0, 2-0 East Suburban Catholic) continued to pass the ball and did not pull their offensive starters after Hayes scored with less than four minutes remaining to make it 21-9. Instead of running out the clock, St. Patrick drove the length of the field for a meaningless touchdown.
“If it’s 42-nothing, I’d probably have a problem with it,” Benet coach Patrick New said. “It’s still a two score game; we score, get an onside kick. I’ve been on the other side where you just never know. You want to seal the deal. So I don’t have a problem with it.”
Jack Toner, who had two of Benet’s interceptions, was also a recipient of some dirty play on the final touchdown drive. After Toner had broken up a pass on 1st and goal, St. Patrick senior Guy DiBalsamo blatantly kneed Toner in the head as he got up off Toner. No penalty was called.
“He kicked me in the head in the first half too,” Toner said. “It was the second time, so I wasn’t surprised by it.”
Benet’s first interception came when Tim Veselik grabbed a ball fellow linebacker Jack Crain tipped at the Benet 1 yard line. The Redwings mounted a nice drive until St. Patrick senior Jalyn Crockrom bolted in front of Mankowski's pass and went 71 yards untouched to make the deficit 14-0.
