Eureka pulls away from St. Bede in fourth quarter

PERU – The St. Bede football team had the fourth quarter blues Friday.

Playing toe-to-toe with Eureka for the first three quarters of a nonconference game, the Bruins were outscored by 15 points in the final 12 minutes as the Hornets pulled away for a 39-23 victory.

“We were right there going into the fourth quarter,” St. Bede coach Jim Eustice said. “But it just got away from us in the fourth.”

With Eureka leading 24-23 after three quarters, the Bruins had a chance, but touchdowns on back-to-back Eureka drives turned a tight game into a runaway victory.

“They are a good football team, but we didn’t do a very good job on either side of the line of scrimmage tonight,” Eustice said. “The game is won and lost in the trenches.”

A wild back-and-forth first half saw five lead changes, one tie, one punt by both teams and one interception by both sides as Eureka built a 21-17 halftime advantage.

The Hornets pushed their lead to 24-17 with a 22-yard field goal with 6:17 left in the third quarter.

St. Bede kept fighting as it capped a 10-play, 59-yard drive with a score when sophomore running back Landon Marquez powered his way in for a 3-yard TD to cut the deficit to 24-23 with 1:12 left in the third quarter.

However, the PAT kick by junior kicker Ryan Solomin – who made a 32-yard field goal in the first quarter – hit the upright and came back onto the field for the miss instead of tying the game.

Eureka then took over in the fourth quarter.

The Hornets mixed pass and run on their next possession as Eureka marched down the field and scored on a 2-yard QB keep and then threw for the two-point conversion to build a two-score lead at 32-23 with 9:53 left.

Nearly 2 ½ minutes later, SBA junior quarterback Gino Ferrari threw an interception on the Bruins’ next drive to give Eureka possession once again.

Taking over at midfield, the Hornets marched 50 yards in six plays – including a key fourth down conversion – and scored on a 15-yard TD run to take a 39-23 lead.

St. Bede had one last chance as Ferrari and the Bruins passed their way to the 9-yard line but threw four straight incompletions. Taking over on downs, Eureka ran out the clock for the win.

“We had a couple of chances to stop them, and they converted,” Eustice said. “They are very well coached and converted some big plays – some third and longs and even fourth downs. They converted when they had to. Credit to them.”

Marquez ran for 41 yards and a TD, while senior running back Halden Hueneburg also ran for 60 yards and a first quarter TD.

Ferrari threw for 103 yards and a TD to senior receiver Phillip Gray in the second quarter.

With the loss, St. Bede drops to 0-2 on the season as it opens Chicagoland Prairie Conference play next week at home against Walther Christian.

“Our backs are against the wall now,” Eustice said. “We’re going to check out the character of this team and see how we respond. We still have a lot of season to go.”