Varsity football will play Benet Academy in their first conference game of the season tomorrow night under the lights on their home field at Triton College. The Shamrocks, with three straight home games to begin the 2018 season, defeated Taft 36-22 in their season opener and Glenbrook South 28-7 this past Saturday.
Saint Patrick senior Jack O’Rourke, in his first season at QB, is a combined 18-34 with 217 yards and 2 TD’s in the first two games. RB George Ohanessian ’19 leads the team with 36 carries, 183 yards and 4 TD’s and RB Eric Wozny, Jr. ‘20 has 18 carries, 147 yards and 1 TD. WR Giovanni Capifali ’19 has three TD’s including an interception against Taft.
“We ran the ball well over the first two games which is very necessary for our identity this year,” said Head Coach Adam Guerra, in his second season at the helm. “Our QB needs to keep making smart decisions and distributing the football. That’s going to be a big part of our game. He [O’Rourke] has run the ball well which has been good. He’s got to keep doing that.”
In addition, Coach Guerra has been happy with the play of LB Vince Waters ‘20, DL Kwame Achampong ‘20 and said DL Carl Reina ‘20 has added depth for the Shamrocks, particularly in the game vs. Glenbrook South. Xavier Saldana ‘19 and Capifali have gotten it done on both offense and defense and Ohanessian and Wozny, Jr. just need to keep running the ball hard.
“We’re a little banged up,” Guerra added. “We need to get healthy. That is our major concern going forward.” Missing All-Conference TE Anthony Manaves ’19 obviously hurts Saint Patrick. “He’s a lot of what we do so getting him back soon will be good,” Guerra said. “Other than that, we need to keep doing what we’re doing, run the football and play good defense.”
As for Benet, “They’re good. I’m impressed with them.” Guerra feels they’re a well-coached team. “It’s going to take mistake-free football for the Shamrocks to win on Friday night.”
Kick-off is tomorrow night at 7:30 pm after the JV game at 5 pm at Triton College. It is also Youth Jersey Night. All youth athletes in their sports team jersey will receive free admission and in-game seating in the north end zone.
