St. Bede started out strong on its opening drive Friday, but it was all Peoria Notre Dame after that as the Irish cruised to a 47-13 victory in Peru.

Gino Ferrari was sacked early on, but on third-and-22 threw a 28-yard strike to Drew Carboni to keep the drive going.

Ferrari followed that with a 10-yard run and an 8-yard pass to Jose De Le Torre. On third-and-1, Ferrari picked up the first with a 3-yard run.

That gave the Bruins first-and-goal and Ferrari ran it in from 3 yards and after the two-point conversion failed, the Bruins led 6-0.

“I thought we started out really well on offense,” St. Bede coach Jack Brady said. “We executed the game plan perfectly and were able to punch it into the end zone.”

The Irish wasted no time taking the lead as Blake Maxwell broke free of several tackles on his way to a 59-yard touchdown run on his first touch, putting PND ahead 7-6 after the extra point.

The Bruins next drive started to go backwards and on third-and-11 Carson Riva nearly made an outstanding catch, but St. Bede was forced to punt.

Big plays were the name of the game for the Irish on their next drive as Jamarahe Marizetts ran for 15 yards and Dallas Harder rumbled for 23 yards.

That set up a 1-yard touchdown run from Marizetts to put Peoria Notre Dame ahead 14-6.

St. Bede’s next drive ended on a fumble and the Irish capitalized. Harder, who is getting looks from several Division 1 schools on the defensive side, got a great block from Maxwell and ran for a 50-yard TD and a 21-6 lead.

Peoria Notre Dame recovered an onside kick and Harder had another big run for a 22-yard TD and a 27-6 lead.

After St. Bede went three-and-out, the Bruin defense forced a fourth-and-4, but Harder ran over a defender for a 23-yard gain.

On another fourth down, Marizetts picked up 14 yards, which set up an 8-yard TD run from Maxwell as the lead grew to 34-6.

Ferrari got the Bruins moving on their next drive with an 11-yard run and a 5-yard completion to De Le Torre, but the Bruins turned the ball over on downs.

“I thought this was Gino Ferrari’s best game of the year,” Brady said. “He ran the ball well and passed as well. Very proud of his effort again tonight.”

After a pair of 5-yard runs from Maxwell and Marizetts, it was another big play for the Irish as Harder broke free for 35 yards and another score as the Irish led 41-6 at the break.

“St. Bede exploited us on their first drive,” Irish coach Pat Armstrong said. “We made some adjustments on defense and then had some big plays on offense. We have Dallas Harder who’s getting some big school looks as well as our tackle Noah Tockes and those guys among others really stepped up tonight.”

Things were more of the same in the second half with big plays. Harder ran for 11 yards and Tyler Miller went 54 yards for the score on the second play of the half to start the running clock with PND leading 47-6.

After the Irish turned the ball over on downs deep in their own territory, Ferrari hit De Le Torre for 15 yards and Carson Riva ran in from 2 yards out to make it 47-13.

For the Irish, Harder ran for 184 yards and three scores on nine carries, while the Bruins were led by Ferrari with 82 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries to go along with 9-of-24 passing for 109 yards.

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St. Bede quarterback Gino Ferrari runs the ball in to score a touchdown against Peoria Notre Dame on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025 at St. Bede Academy. (Scott Anderson)