Mariners make stand in 21-7 triumph over Whitnall

The St. Francis defense was in shutdown mode.

The Mariners barely let Whitnall's offense reach three figures in yardage in their 21-7 Woodland Conference victory Sept. 21 at St. Francis.

"The defense was pretty good," Sarver said. "I thought our defensive effort against Greendale was good except for a few plays. We were able to keep away from giving up the big play this week."

The Mariners (3-2 overall, 3-1 in the Woodland South) held Whitnall (2-3, 2-2) to 17 rushing yards on 20 attempts. Whitnall had 96 yards passing. That comes out to a tidy 113 yards.

"We basically shut down the run," Sarver said. "It's kind of the same type of spread formation that Greendale runs."

Senior linebacker Mario Scianni led the defensive charge with eight tackles, including one for a loss. Senior safety Jamin Chilson also had a tackle for loss, senior lineman Mike Paquette contributed a sack, and junior defensive back Tyler Bostedt had an interception that led to the Mariners' second touchdown.

"It's like we were a step slow in terms of processing everything," Whitnall coach Rob Leboeuf said. "Kinesthetically, we were a step slow."

When the Mariners had the ball, they were pretty efficient. Junior quarterback Cory Knapp threw a pair of touchdown passes and was 12-for-21 for 131 yards. They pounded out 181 yards on the ground, with sophomore fullback Evan Biller contributing 77 on 17 carries and senior halfback Thomas Fera adding 69 on 13 carries.

"The good thing about the game was we didn't put the ball on the ground as we have been," Sarver said.

On the other hand …

"The bad thing was, the penalty bug, which we haven't had all year long, kind of hurt us," Sarver said, referring to his team's 10 penalties for 80 yards.

Knapp's 5-yard touchdown pass to Fera and Biller's 1-yard scoring run, which both came in the second quarter, gave the Mariners a 14-0 lead entering the break. After Whitnall closed to 14-7 in the third quarter, Sarver had a big decision to make when his team had a fourth-and-4 at the Whitnall 36.

"We were on the 36, and our defense was playing well," Sarver said.

The Mariners went for it, Fera found a seam in the defense, Knapp got him the ball, and the Mariners were in control again.

"We needed this win because it keeps us on track in the playoff scenario, and gives us a boost going into the Cudahy game," Sarver said.

St. Francis will visit Cudahy at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28.

Jerry Karpowicz can be reached at (262) 446-6628 or jkarpowicz@cninow.com.