It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact the Niles Notre Dame Dons can now relate to. They took a serious blow against Marist on Thursday, falling 34-0. While losing is never fun, Niles Notre Dame can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 112th, while Marist is ranked 30th).
John McAuliffe was his usual excellent self, rushing for 128 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.5 yards per carry. Owen Winters was another key contributor, rushing for 49 yards and a touchdown.
Niles Notre Dame has yet to win a match on the road this season, leaving them with a 3-8 record. Admittedly, the team was facing some tough opposition over that stretch, including 10-2 Carmel and 9-3 Joliet Catholic (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 64.3% over those games). As for Marist, the win (which was their fifth in a row) raised their record to 6-5.
Niles Notre Dame does not have any more games scheduled as of now. Marist will head out on the road to face off against St. Rita at 7:00 p.m. on November 17th.
