Seneca senior running back Cam Shriey took a very deep breath and wiped the sweat from his brow prior to answering the opening postgame question he was asked.

“I’m a little beat up, but it’s worth it,” Shriey said with a grin.

The Fighting Irish workhorse ran the ball 24 times for 215 yards and four touchdowns in a 43-26 victory over Marquette on Friday’s homecoming contest at Gould Stadium.

“Our offensive line works their butts in the offseason and week in and week out,’ Shriey said. ”They have been really good all season but tonight they took it up a notch. They were giving me some nice space to run in.

“I’d also like to shout out the running backs next to me, Liam Knoebel and Ethan Othon. They also did a great job of blocking for me. Yeah, I get yards and score some touchdowns, but a ton of the credit has to go to the guys who are blocking in front of me.”

Seneca (6-0, 2-0), which led 7-6 after one quarter, 20-12 at halftime and 35-18 heading to the fourth, finished with 396 yards rushing on 61 carries and held a 31:52-to-15:16 advantage in time of possession.

The Crusaders (3-3, 2-1) scored on the game’s opening drive on a 40-yard TD pass from Anthony Couch (15-of-24, 193 yards, 4 TD) to Connor Baker (6 catches, 72 yards) to make it 6-0. A 10-yard TD run by Shriey on Seneca’s first chance, plus Cooper Hamilton’s PAT kick made it 7-6.

Seneca forced a three-and-out punt, then made it 14-6 on Shriey’s 4-yard run. The hosts answered quickly with a 60-yard TD reception by Marcus Baker from Couch to make it 20-12. With under three minutes left before half, Seneca scored on a 49-yard sprint by Shriey.

The Irish opened the second half with 9-play, 56-yard drive that finished with a Gunner Varland 16-yard run.

“Coming out in to start the second half with a score was big for us,” Seneca coach Terry Maxwell said. “We gave one back but then found a way to score on our second possession as well to maybe grab the momentum back.

“Our offense is meant for the defense to have to worry about a number of things every play. I feel we have an offensive line and backs that can get us yards when we needed them. Cam was as solid as he’s been all season tonight.”

Marquette again answered as Couch hit Blayden Cassel for a 29-yard TD strike to make it 28-18.

With under a minute to go in the third, Shriey scored his fourth TD of the game on a 5-yard run. The Crusaders cut the disadvantage to 35-26 with a Couch-to-Easton Debernardi 15-yard TD connection with seven minutes left, but Knoebel’s 3-yard scoring run with just over a minute to play closed out the contest.

Othon gained 100 yards on the ground on 14 tries, while QB Varland had 15 carries for 49 yards and completed a pair of passes for 14 yards, one each to Zeb Maxwell and Shriey.

Marquette rushed for 74 yards on 18 carries, Grant Dose with 28 yards on 9 carries.

“We were beaten up front and we knew that was going to be the biggest key in the game tonight,” Marquette coach Ken Carlson said. “Seneca is a well-coached team that is physical, gets off the ball very well and executes very well. All those things are why they are 6-0 right now.

“I thought we ran the ball pretty well in the first half and we would have liked to run the ball a little more in the second half but then we got down a couple of scores and had to go to the pass a little more.

“We battled them for 48 minutes but just couldn’t find ways to consistently stop them defensively.”

Next week Seneca hosts St. Bede, while Marquette is at Elmwood-Brimfield.