With its rich football tradition, Fenwick is hardly in need of name recognition in the Catholic League. And yet, while other programs like Mt. Carmel, St. Rita and Brother Rice garnered most of the pre-season attention this year, it’s the resurgent and relatively under publicized Friars emerging as arguably the most intriguing story in the Catholic League Blue Division.
The Friars (4-0, 1-0 Catholic League Blue) added another chapter to their potentially memorable season as they trounced Hales Franciscan 42-0 on Saturday afternoon in a Catholic League crossover win. Fenwick exploded for 35 points in the first half, scoring on its first four possessions.
Senior quarterback Brien Rooney (13-of-18, 160 yards) tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Patrick Doyle (32 yards) and Nick Caldicott (22 yards). Along with the Fenwick aerial attack, Colin Tobin (21 carries, 100 yards) rushed for three touchdowns. Leading 28-0 in the second quarter, Brendan Frainey capped off the Friars’ impressive first half performance when he raced 40 yards on a punt return to make it 35-0 at the half.
“We played business-like,” Fenwick coach Joe DiCanio said. “It was important for us to get in here, get a win and head home. We would have liked to get our second unit defense more playing time, but it was difficult to do because our offense was controlling the ball well.”
The Friars’ offense, averaging 34.5 points a game, shared the spotlight with a very stingy defense on Saturday. Led by inside linebacker Dan Walsh and strong safety Jack Finan, the Friars limited Hales to 19 plays for minus-two yards. It was the second shutout of the season for Fenwick. .
While football fever is in full swing on Washington Boulevard, DiCanio knows a daunting schedule remains, including clashes with Brother Rice, Providence, Loyola and Mt. Carmel.
“I told our coaching staff at the start of the year our goal is to get to five wins and qualify for the state playoffs,” said DiCanio, who is in his third year at Fenwick. “We’re not looking ahead. We want to win at least two of six games in the Catholic League Blue. We already have one win, and we’ll try to get the next one this weekend.”
Fenwick, ranked in the Top 15 of both the Chicago Tribune (No. 10) and the Chicago Sun-Times (No. 15), will take on host Brother Rice this Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
Although Brother Rice (3-1, 1-1 Catholic League Blue) lost 31-0 to Mt. Carmel at Gately Stadium on Friday night, the highly regarded Crusaders figure to be a major test for Fenwick.
“Their quarterback (John Ingersoll) has been out the last two games due to injury, but we expect that he’ll be back,” DiCanio said. “He’s really the catalyst to their team. Whatever happens, I know our kids will play hard. They are not intimidated by anybody in the Blue conference.”
The Crusaders, last year’s Prep Bowl runner-up, also feature a stout defense led by 6-foot-3, 225-pound linebacker Kevin Konrath, who is being recruited by several Division I programs.