:quality(70):focal(1044x487:1054x497)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/3LW3H2Z2KNHALLU3F6URPCBVIM.jpg)
CHICAGO – After years of inactivity and ignominy, St. Ignatius football revived itself to a great degree in 2021.
It may have seemed like Ignatius was close to the mountaintop after a dominant 8-0 start to the season, topped with its stunning shutout of Mount Carmel in late September, but Fenwick had other plans and the Friars showed the Wolfpack that they weren’t out the frying pan yet.
Senior quarterback Kaden Cobb rushed for a score and threw two touchdowns to power Fenwick (7-2) to a 28-20 win over Ignatius, deflating the upstart Wolfpack on what they hoped was going to be a night of coronation at the center of their homecoming weekend.
“(Ignatius) is the best team we’ve seen all year. That’s a damn good team, they are going to make a lot of noise in the playoffs,” Fenwick coach Matt Battaglia said.
The Friars whooped it up after the game, knowing they snuck in and took the Chicago Catholic League/East Suburban Catholic Conference White division from a team that was hungry for the recognition that comes with that title. Both teams entered this game with 2-0 records in their division.
More used to winning football than its host Friday evening, Fenwick gets the satisfaction of knowing it is continuing to thrive heading into the postseason and is likely over its toughest loss this season to this point – a three-point loss to Loyola that happened the same evening Ignatius made its big statement against Mount Carmel. That loss is likely the only thing keeping Fenwick from being ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press 5A state rankings.
Meanwhile, Ignatius (8-1) remains a contender this year in 6A, where it came into this game ranked No. 4 in the state. With its 40-year football hiatus fully behind it now, this program looks to establish itself as a playoff power just as it did in its conference this season.
“It should hurt, we worked hard for it and came up short,” Ignatius coach Matt Miller said. “But we’ve never won a state playoff game in the history of the school and so that’s obviously still on the line. There’s still a lot to play for.”
Along with Cobb’s heroics, Fenwick was powered by a receiving touchdown and a rushing touchdown from senior running back Danny Kent, who started the night’s scoreboard action with an 8-yard catch made possible by an extended Cobb scramble. Fenwick attacked Ignatius early and often downfield with its Division-I recruit QB (Ball State) as Ignatius tried to establish its vaunted triple-option rush attack.
The Wolfpack countered Fenwick with an 82-yard drive early in the second quarter that ended with a 54-yard scamper from Ignatius star running back Vinny Rugai. The teams traded scores again in the second but Fenwick entered halftime up 14-13 after Ignatius missed an extra point that was attempted after their QB Jake Petrow scored on a 1-yard keeper with less than two minutes to go in the half.
Fenwick owned the third quarter, scoring twice and building a 28-13 lead. Ignatius had a chance to take a lead early in the quarter after Rugai intercepted a Cobb pass in Wolfpack territory and returned it to the Fenwick 46-yard line. That drive was shut down with an interception from Fenwick’s Denium Juette, who took the ball to the 50 yard line. With only half the field to move on, the Friars utilized a pass interference call on Ignatius to get deeper into Ignatius field position.
The Wolfpack had a hard time containing several explosive Friars, including receivers Max Reese, Brian Hunt and Eian Pugh, but Cobb took things into his own hands, scoring on a 25-yard option run that looked to put the game away in the final minute of the third.
“We’ve been through a lot of close games, that really helped set us up,” Battaglia said. “We weren’t scared, we were ready to punch back.”
Ignatius showed heart, and a more open passing game, in trying to clear the deficit. First came a seven-yard rushing score from Jack Molloy that cut the lead down to 28-20. With time running out on Ignatius, Petrow aired out a few big throws but one to a wide open Molloy couldn’t be reeled in and left the Wolfpack reeling.
Petrow extended Ignatius’ last drive by drawing a late hit penalty while scrambling on a third down play toward Fenwick’s sideline. The Wolfpack would wind up in a fourth and goal situation that would have given them a chance to tie the game with a 2-point conversion, but one last jet sweep from Ignatius with Molloy fell one yard short of the end zone and Fenwick took over with 24 seconds left in the game.
“We tried to play our style of slowing the game down, shortening it, limiting the possessions. When you do that many times it plays in your favor. Many times, with minor mistakes, it costs you,” Miller said.