Oak Lawn, Ill. - Playing on the road at Saint Xavier for the first time since 2017, the Marian football team rebounded from their loss last week with a 31-20 road win. The win is Marian's first against the Cougars in Illinois since the 2015 season, and improves Marian to 6-2 on the season and 2-1 in the MSFA Midwest League.

The Knights opened Saturday's game as great as one could ask, getting an immediate lift by the defense as they forced a quick three-and-out. The offense raced to the end zone on their first possession of the day as a 41-yard completion between Tristan Polk and Jake Reichard ignited the unit, with the drive ending in a one-yard touchdown run by the quarterback. Both teams punted on their next possessions, and on the Cougars third series of the game they rolled the dice with a fourth down attempt, only to get denied in the backfield by Isaiah Street and Wyatt Woodall. 

Marian used the momentum from the turnover on downs and found the end zone on their short field, marching the 36 yards in 12 plays with Keagan La Belle capping the drive with a touchdown run. La Belle's 10^th touchdown run of the season gave Marian a 14-0 lead which they carried into the second quarter. The defense continued to play sound as the next period began, forcing Saint Xavier off the field without points as they turned the ball over on downs on their first series of the quarter. A series of punts brought the Knights' offense back to the field with 8:11 to play in the half, but the series would end in a missed field goal attempt as Marlon Pomili's 52-yard kick was left short. 

Penalties aided the Cougars as they took over at their 35-yard line following the miss, as they used just 72 seconds and four plays to reach the end zone and cut the lead in half. Marian responded after giving up the score, as Polk dissected the defense with completions to Tirae Spence, Drew Byerly, and Jameson Coverstone to get into the red zone. La Belle would cap the 61-yard drive with a touchdown run from two yards out, pushing Marian on top 21-7. The Cougars would turn the ball over on downs one more time before halftime, but Marian was unable to add to the lead as Polk had a hail mary pass intercepted on the half's final play.

Leading 21-7 to start the second half, Marian looked in prime position to take a commanding three-score lead as Polk and Coverstone connected for 38 yards on the first play of the third quarter, but the series would stall out six plays later on a failed field goal operation. Marian's defense stood tall for the offense by forcing a quick four-and-out, and two snaps later the offense pushed the lead to three scores as Polk found Coverstone for a 25-yard touchdown connection. 

Mishaps began to plague Marian after they grabbed the 28-7 lead, as moments after the defense forced a fumble, a high snap on a punt forced Mason Miller to attempt to pick up a first down run on his own, but the punter was tackled in the backfield at the Knights own 13 yard line. Saint Xavier wasted no time scoring as Jessi Plunkett dashed in for a 13-yard score, but the extra point would be blocked by Dan Marley as Marian maintained a 15-point lead.

Marian's offense would punt on their next two series while the defense was tasked to hold the lead, forcing a turnover on downs before the start of the fourth quarter as Isaiah Street and Deon Pettiford wrecked plays in the backfield. After the Knights punted to start the fourth quarter, the Cougars would march down the field and score to make the contest an eight-point game, as Julian Smith's score made it a 28-20 game.

The Knights would take over with 9:09 to play in the game, and put the ball in the belly of Keagan La Belle, as the junior running back drove the team into field goal range for Kenny Curry, who converted a 34-yard kick to push the lead to 11 points. Trailing by two scores, the Cougars would take over with 4:47 to play, but were only able to move the ball 24 yards on the series, as four sacks on a 15-play drive sealed the game, as the Saint Xavier desperation heave on 4^th and 25 from their own 36 hit the ground. Polk would kneel out the clock after the defense stood tall one final time, closing the 31-20 victory over Saint Xavier.

Marian's defense limited the Saint Xavier offense to 284 yards on the day, while the Knights' offense gained 288 yards in the win. Polk passed for 196 yards and a touchdown, while running for 11 yards and one touchdown. La Belle gained 84 yards and scored twice on his 24 carries, and Jameson Coverstone led the receivers with 86 yards and his first collegiate score. Reichard had 52 yards, and Drew Byerly had a team-high four catches. Defensively, Cade Houseman was all over the field, leading the team in tackles with 16 total stops, including three for a loss and a forced fumble. Isaiah Street made 10 tackles and had 3.5 sacks on the afternoon, making 5.5 total tackles for loss. Deon Pettiford, Logan Carrington, and Wyatt Woodall each made eight tackles in the win, and Pettiford, Houseman, Joe Apata, Luke Swartz, Kobe Ottinger, and Woodall joined Street as sack makers on Saturday.

Marian will return home next Saturday for their final home game of the season, taking on Judson University at 1:05 p.m. Next Saturday's game is senior day, with pregame festivities for the Marian seniors taking place approximately 30 minutes prior to kickoff.

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