When the battle of Chicago Heights was waged Friday night between Bloom Township and Marian Catholic, the long-time rivals were never separated by more than six points in the first-half.
After the intermission though, the Spartans pieced together three long scoring drives and pulled away for a 27-14 victory on the heels of a rushing attack that churned out 264 yards.
The Blazing Trojans had two scoring chances in the first five minutes of the game, capitalizing on an errant snap of a Marian punt attempt when Jackquell Jackson recovered a fumble in the end-zone. An unsuccessful two-point attempt failed and Bloom led 6-0.
A 50-yard kickoff return by Jarvis Jennings gave the Blazing Trojans outstanding field position to start the contest. They drove to the 13 yard-line before the drive stalled when a 30-yard field goal sailed left.
Marian (2-0) responded with back-to-back scores in the second quarter to take a lead it would not relinquish.
Malcolm Allen capped a 10-play drive with a six-yard scoring run with just under nine minutes left before the intermission. Dan Roque's PAT kick gave the Spartans a 7-6 lead.
The Spartans got the ball back less than a minute later when Kevin Kammert intercepted a Deangelo Blatcher pass that was thrown as he was hit by Kirk Roberts. Eleven plays later, Roque converted a 23-yard field goal that pushed the margin to 10-6.
Toward the end of the half, the Blazing Trojans (1-1) had an opportunity to take the lead back when Ray Blesst connected with JT Coleman at the two-yard line. But as Coleman turned toward the end-zone, Kevin Kammert drilled him and forced a fumble that was recovered in the air by linebacker Mike Berens.
"I was kind of surprised when I saw the ball and I just grabbed it with one hand," Berens said. "It was a big hit by Kevin Kammert and I was at the right place at the right time."
Bloom moved back into Marian territory again with less than a minute left, but the last play of the half ended with a Roque intercepion at the two-yard line.
"We knew coming in that you cannot give up the ball that many times to a team like this," explained Bloom coach Tony Palombi.
"But these kids are ready to work on that and fix these mistakes. In terms of effort this is one of the best groups of kids I have been around."
Following the break, the Spartans scored on three straight posessions and took a large chunk of time off the clock in the process.
Allen scored his second TD on a one-yard run and collected 138 yards on 30 carries. It was the second week that he eclipsed the century mark.
On its next series, Marian took 15 plays and finished the drive with a 27-yard Roque field-goal to take a 20-6 lead.
Andres Rodriguez recovered a fumble on Bloom's first drive of the fourth quarter that set up Marian's last score of the game. John DiGiovanni scored on a run from five yards out and Ryan Merriman booted an extra-point to give the Spartans a 27-6 lead.
With under three minutes left in the contest, Bloom scored the final points of the game, putting together a six-play, 84-yard drive. Blesst (7-of-16, 108 yards) connected with Coleman for a 18-yard score and a run by Nyko Palombi converted the two-point PAT.
Corey Harris led Bloom in rushing with 51 yards, while Brandon Sherman carried for 101 yards on 11 carries for the Spartans.
"We told the kids after the game that the sign of a good team is one that wins when you do not play your best," said Spartan coach Dave Mattio. "The difference tonight is that Bloom did not allow us to play that well. They have some really nice athletes and linebacker Trace Capps is a great football player."
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