Big John Carroll Second Quarter Dooms St. Norbert's Ireland Trip

From Sports Information Director, August 31, 2012 | Football
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DUBLIN - John Carroll University erased a 3-0 deficit with a 27-point second quarter and went on to defeat St. Norbert College 40-3 in the Global Ireland Football Tournament in front of a raucous crowd of 4,877 at Donnybrook Stadium.

John Carroll quarterback Mark Myers, a transfer from the University of Pittsburgh, set a school record with 457 passing yards in his first appearance with the Blue Streaks. Myers completed 30 of 43 passes with five touchdowns and one interception.

St. Norbert (0-1) held a 3-0 lead after the first quarter, following Randy Hill's 39-yard field goal with 5 minutes 13 seconds left in the period.

John Carroll (1-0) answered with a 14-play 97-yard drive to pull ahead 6-0 on DaQuan Grobsmith's 1-yard run. Myers hit Randy Greenwood on a swing pass out of the backfield, and Greenwood broke free for a 73-yard touchdown for a 13-3 lead with 6:35 left before halftime.

The Blue Streaks struck a huge blow in deciding the outcome with two touchdowns in the last 1:27 of the first half. Myers twice found Lane Robilotto on 20-yard touchdown passes, the last one coming with 15 seconds left before intermission after St. Norbert bobbled a punt snap and gave the ball up on downs.

John Carroll closed out the scoring with Myers finding Alex Kline twice, on a 27-yard touchdown pass with 21 seconds left in the third quarter and again on a 57-yard aerial with 12:29 remaining in the game.

St. Norbert couldn't muster much offense, getting just 90 yards of total offense on 59 plays. Austin Williams rushed 14 times for a team-high 43 yards. James Tringali made his first collegiate start for the Green Knights, completing 12 of 25 passes for 48 yards and one interception.

John Carroll had 513 yards of total offense, with 483 coming through the air. Robilotto caught nine passes for 116 yards, while Kline added eight receptions for 143 yards.