Marquette came into Friday’s Chicagoland Prairie Conference game with the hopes of still getting a conference championship, while St. Bede was trying to get back into the win column.

The Crusaders dominated on third down and defensively as they came away with a 42-7 victory Ottawa.

The first two possessions of the game were dominated by the defenses as each forced a punt.

On Marquette’s second possession, it looked as if the Bruins were going to force another punt.

But on third-and-3, Grant Dose picked up 11 yards to keep the drive going. Later on fourth-and-2, Dose again picked up a first on a 4-yard run.

On the next play, Anthony Couch threw to Blayden Cassel for a 28-yard touchdown pass to put the Crusaders ahead 6-0.

The Bruins were not so successful on third and fourth downs, though.

On third-and-9, St. Bede picked up six yards on a screen pass from Gino Ferarri to Jose De Le Torre to force fourth down.

But as they did all night, the Crusaders front four dominated and Ferarri was sacked by Luke McCullough to give Marquette the ball back.

Marquette went back to work and once again dominated third down. This time on third-and-9, Couch found Connor Baker for a 19-yard completion.

A few plays later on fourth-and-4, Jaxsen Higgins picked up a first down with a 10-yard run. Dose then ran for 16 yards before a 1-yard touchdown run from Couch put the Crusaders ahead 14-0 after the two-point conversion.

“St. Bede was doing a nice job on our power read stuff early,” Marquette coach Ken Carlson said. “But we always talk about the mentality of the next play and we were able to execute on third and fourth downs.”

The Bruins were unable to move the ball much again against the Crusaders defense and were forced to punt.

Higgins then had a nice series for the Crusaders with two runs of eight yards and another for 13 and then again on third down it was Couch to Easton DeBernardi, who made a great catch in the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown and a 20-0 lead.

The offense of the Bruins and leading rusher Landon Marquez were stuffed by the Crusaders defense again. On third-and-long, the Bruins had a loss of two yards on the screen pass.

After the Crusaders got the ball back, they wasted little time as Dose split two Bruins defenders and burst free for a 55-yard touchdown pass that put Marquette up 28-0 at the break.

“Can’t question our tenacity and the effort on defense,” Bruins coach Jack Brady said. “We have to tidy things up a little bit. We had them on third- and fourth-and-long and then we just don’t make the plays.”

To start the second half, Cassel put an end to the Bruins drive with a big sack on third down, forcing the Bruins to punt.

To start the Crusaders drive, Couch hooked up with DeBernardi again for 11 yards and then Couch picked up a 32 yards on a quarterback keeper.

Then as they did all night long, on third-and-6 this time, Dose ran up the middle for a 13-yard touchdown run for a commanding 36-0 lead.

On third-and-12 and then again on fourth-and-12, the Bruins had incomplete passes, giving the ball back to the Crusaders who looked to put the final nail in the coffin.

Dose had an 11-yard run, but then on third down, the Bruins came away with the stop on an interception by Ferrari.

The two offenses went cold for a while and then the Bruins started to move the ball a bit with tough runs up the middle from Marquez and then a 14-yard run from Brennen Hirst.

Shortly after, Ferarri connected with Stuart McGunnigal for 17 yards, which led to a 3-yard touchdown run from Marquez to make it 36-7.

The celebration didn’t last long though as Higgins took the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown to make it 42-7.

Marquette was led by Dose with 82 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns (1 rush, 1 pass), while Couch was 7 of 12 for 133 yards and three touchdowns. The Bruins were led by Hirst with 43 yards on seven carries, while Ferrari was 6 of 18 for 32 yards passing.

Marquette (3-2, 2-0) hosts Seneca (5-0, 1-0) next Friday, while the Bruins (2-3, 0-1) return home Saturday to face Dwight.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 24

Marquette's Easton Debernardi comes up with a catch in the end zone over St. Bede's Jose De Le Torre on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025 at Gould Stadium in Ottawa. (Scott Anderson)