DE LA SALLE 0 7 0 14 21
FENWICK 0 0 0 7 7
Considering he coached Chicago Bears running back Garrett Wolfe in high school, Fenwick football coach Joe DiCanio knows a thing or two about great runners on the gridiron.
On Friday night at De La Salle, DiCanio watched the Meteors’ feature back, Cordero Gaston, shred the Fenwick defense for 232 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The elusive and speedy senior might ultimately be remembered by Fenwick as “Gaston the Great,” considering his magical effort in the closing minutes of the game caused the Friars’ aspirations of a division title to go up in smoke.
Trailing 7-0 with 7:02 left in regulation, the Friars (5-4, 3-1 Catholic League White) appeared to have seized momentum as Colin Tobin capped off a six-play, 49-yard scoring drive on a 2-yard touchdown leap into the end zone to level the score at 7-7.
However, on the Meteors’ (7-2, 4-0) ensuing possession, Gaston broke free for a 49-yard touchdown run to regain the lead for De La Salle. With 2:17 left on the clock, Gaston added a 13-yard run off left tackle to push the advantage to 21-7, essentially clinching De La Salle’s first outright conference title since 1968.
The Friars’ normally reliable running attack of Tobin (9 carries, 12 yards) and Gregory Killingsworth (6 carries, 16 yards) stalled against the Meteors.
“Our philosophy is to run the ball,” DiCanio said. “If we can’t run it, we’re not going to be very good. We’ll get it going for the playoffs. We are pretty young on the offensive line.”
Although Fenwick quarterback Mike Androwich (12-for-29, 146 yards) struggled early, he found some rhythm in the second quarter. The senior signal-caller completed 10 of his last 19 attempts to keep Fenwick within striking distance throughout the contest.
Receivers Joe Musso (4 catches, 56 yards) and Patrick Cahill (3 catches, 31 yards) helped the Friars pick up 10 first downs on the night.
At the 3:53 mark of the third quarter, Fenwick marched 53 yards on 14 plays, but didn’t convert a critical fourth-and-four at the Meteors’ 9.
On Saturday Fenwick (No. 15 seed in the Class 7A bracket) travels to No. 2 seed Glenbrook North (8-1) in the opening round of the playoffs (7 p.m.).
“Our season begins now,” DiCanio said. “We’re in the postseason and nobody thought we would be there, so we’ll see what happens against Glenbrook North.”
The Spartans, ranked No. 18 in the Chicago Sun-Times football poll, feature plenty of weapons including quarterback Tom Coughlin and running back Chris Collins, who rushed for two touchdowns during the Spartans’ 55-12 dismantling of Niles North on Friday.