Saint Patrick defeated Joliet Catholic in dramatic fashion for their first win of the season on Friday with a final score of 30-29. The Shamrocks, 1-0 in conference play, will take their victory into their home opener on Saturday.
“It was a good win, said head coach Adam Guerra, “I don’t want to get too excited because we still have a lot of work to do but the team felt good getting their first win and was excited about the 4th quarter comeback.”
Down 29-23 with less than 5 minutes to go, St. Pat’s went on a long 4-minute drive to take the lead and the defense stopped them. “That’s why we train,” said Guerra, “That’s offseason and weight room and all the things we’ve been working on so it’s good for the boys to see their hard work doing what it’s supposed to do.”
“It was nice the defense came up with some stops when we needed to and the offensive line, which has only given up one sack in three games, played really well,” Guerra noted, “The kickoff return for a touchdown by Lombardi was big and Rosenbusch had a really good game.”
Rosenbusch, the Shamrocks Athlete of the Week, was 22-33 with 205 yards, 2 TD’s and a 28-yard FG. When asked about the winning drive and kicking the winning extra point, Rosenbusch said, “I went out there and did everything I did during practice. I was just trying to stay calm throughout the whole drive down the field.”
“The good thing,” added Rosenbusch, “is we all stayed together throughout the whole game and the last two games.” “We just didn’t pull through in the first two games but we hung in there,” said the senior quarterback, “We just kept pushing for each first down.”
Coach Guerra and Rosenbusch are both looking forward to Saturday’s game against Marian Catholic. “It’s exciting because it’s the home opener, our first game at Triton College and at night,” Guerra said, “I think there’s just a lot of exciting things right there, it’s going to be a fun week.”
According to Rosenbusch, “After the first win, we definitely had a different attitude after the game and the following morning,” he added, “There’s a different vibe to it and that’ll get us going for the next game.”
The Shamrocks will face Marian Catholic on Saturday, September 16 at Triton College in the home opener at 7:00 p.m.
