by Roy Taylor, Daily Herald Correspondent

Nazareth Academy concentrated on defensive schemes in planning for its Friday night football game against Benet.

The Redwings countered with brute force.

The result was a 46-28 Benet victory in the East Suburban Catholic Conference contest in Lisle.

Benet gained 348 total yards paced by Dan McGue’s 111 rushing yards and John Martin’s 3 touchdowns.

Martin attributed his success entirely to the offensive linemen.

“The line had another awesome night,” he said. “I may have done a little work, but all I did was follow their blocks to daylight.”

Benet forced a Nazareth three-and-out on the Roadrunners’ first possession, then quickly scored in 50 seconds on Martin’s first touchdown run of 20 yards.

The Redwings then scored another touchdown quickly, leading 14-0 with only five minutes elapsed in the game.

On the ensuing kickoff Nazareth fumbled, giving Benet prime opportunity to score again from the Roadrunners’ 28-yard line. The Redhawks fumbled at the Nazareth 10-yard line, however, and gave the visitors a chance to creep back into the game.

Nazareth scored its first touchdown late in the first quarter when sophomore quarterback Steve Dalporto came off the bench. On his third play Dalporto connected with David Murphy on a 13-yard touchdown pass.

Benet fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Nazareth scored again, tying the game at 14 with 7:53 remaining in the half.

As the game took a turn toward Nazareth’s favor, the Roadrunners were stifling Benet’s inside run game. Their game plan would only work during the second quarter, however, as the contest was dominated by Benet’s runners thereafter.

Before the half, Benet held the ball for 5:29 on a 14-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with a 22-yard touchdown pass from David Case to Bob Brown.

In the second half Benet continued to control the ball, scoring on two more touchdown runs from Martin, a 65-yard punt return by Matt Kleifges, and a 50-yard pass from Case to Tom Elsner.

“We liked how we battled back after we got punched in the face early on, but we really lost the game on defense,” Nazareth coach Tim Racki said. “Benet has a great offensive line, and they really got off the ball even though we were putting seven and eight in the box.”

Speaking to the 74 points scored on the evening, Benet coach Gary Goforth expects more of the same from Benet-Nazareth matchups in the future.

“This may be the closest thing to a rivalry both of these teams have, and they’re always going to be exciting,” he said.