Marist gets past Nazareth on Hannon’s game-winning kick
By George Wilcox For Sun-Times Media September 8, 2012 7:30PM
Updated: October 10, 2012 6:28AM
Kickers know concentration is everything, which is why Cillian Hannon didn’t let an earlier miss or a late Nazareth timeout distract him from a chance to win a football game with a field goal.
“I zeroed out,” Hannon said. “That’s why we are kickers.”
The Marist junior ended Saturday’s game with a 32-yard field goal to give the No. 1 RedHawks a 24-21 East Suburban Catholic win over Nazareth.
Hannon missed a 33-yard field-goal attempt wide left in the second quarter.
His kick from the right hash mark at the end of the game launched a celebration as Marist (3-0, 1-0) rallied from a 14-0 deficit at halftime.
Marist coach Pat Dunne had complete faith in Hannon as the RedHawks began their game-winning drive from their own 35 with 1:14 remaining.
“I knew I was going to go with him right from there. We practice this,” Dunne said.
Hannon’s game-winner was his first field goal of the season. He beat Benet 17-14 last season in Week 4 with a game-winning field goal.
Against Nazareth, Marist pulled ahead 21-14 on Nic Weishar’s 14-yard touchdown pass from Ian Woodworth (17-of-39, 152 yards) with 6:34 to go in the game.
Peter Andreotti (28 carries, 146 yards, TD) set up Weishar’s TD catch by running seven times during the drive.
Marist got the ball back late after Nazareth’s Rudy Romagnano (21 carries, 135 yards) scored his second TD of the game on a 4-yard run to tie the score at 21.
Nazareth (2-1, 0-1), which was the only conference team to beat Marist last season, scored twice in the second quarter on Zachary Manuel’s 67-yard pass from Jake Bartels, which went through the hands of Carl Jackson before reaching Manuel. Nearly two minutes later, Romagnano scored his first TD on a 57-yard run.
Marist’s comeback in the second half started with Andreotti’s 17-yard TD run with 7:21 to go in the third quarter. Woodworth’s 8-yard keeper tied the game with 35 seconds left in the third quarter.
