Stanford v. Knott
By Meagan Bens
Stanford and Knott will face off Sunday in a matchup between two relatively young and inexperienced teams.
Stanford senior captain Kevin Kohler said his team does not have a specific strategy to defeat Knott, but will rather focus on gaining momentum from the start.
“Since I’ve been here, we’ve never played Knott,” Kohler said. “We did scrimmage Knott last year, and I remember them having big boys on the offensive and defensive line. To be honest, we just have to win the battle in the trenches and set the tone early.”
Having a bye the first week, Knott senior captain John Tulloh said his team will have to focus on their personal development during the game.
“Compared to last year, there is a lot of work to do, such as making sure our plays are clean and crisp, but it is still early in the season so that is to be expected,” Tulloh said. “As for the game against Stanford, we are just trying to focus on our own game and keeping it simple. We need to play our game and do it well enough so they have to play to us and not the other way around.”
Even though the Griffins lack experience this season, Kohler said the team’s expectations have not changed.
“Last year our passing game was emphasized,” Kohler said. “We really moved the ball inside and outside and our defense was really strong, so the new guys have to step up to that caliber . . . The past two years we have made it to the finals and have lost to Morrissey both times. There is no reason why we can’t compete and make it to the stadium again this year.”
Despite having only four seniors, Tulloh said the Juggerknotts are playoff-caliber.
“We’ve been on the edge the three years I have played, and I think we have the talent and size to put us over the edge this year. We have a very young team but I am hoping to get a good base this year so the hall can build off of that for the coming years.”
Stanford will face Knott on Sunday at 1 p.m. at LaBar Practice Complex.
Duncan v. Morrissey
By Mia Berry
Week two begins with both Duncan (0-1) and Morrissey (0-1) looking for a much-needed win in order to keep their playoff chances alive.
Despite having high expectations coming into the new season, back-to-back champion Morrissey fell short in last week’s close 12-6 loss to Siegfried. Senior Manor captain Nicholas Sywyj said the team is looking to bounce back this week.
“We aren’t super worried about last week’s loss,” Sywyj said. “Everyone came out and played a good game. We had a few plays that didn’t go our way, but we’re not making any excuses. We’re learning from our mistakes.”
Heading into week two, Sywyj said Morrissey has made several adjustments and knows exactly what it needs to do to come up with a win this week: sustain long drives, execute in the red zone and limit big plays on defense.
“The pressure is really on now because it’s only a three-game season, so we’re really feeling pressure to win the next two games to make the playoffs,” Sywyj said.
Last week, Duncan suffered a similar setback. Duncan led Stanford 12-9 with one minute remaining in the game, but Stanford scored with 30 seconds on the clock to snag a win.
Duncan junior captain Thomas Staffieri said his team has made the necessary adjustments this week to take on Morrissey and come back from last week’s loss.
“We had a lot of trouble last week in short yard plays, so we’ve added a few new packages and plays to help us convert, particularly in the red zone,” Staffieri said. “We left some points on the board last game and that cannot happen this game. “
Duncan’s mindset has changed since last week’s game. Staffieri spoke on the new team mindset heading into week two.
“We were obviously disappointed after the tough loss,” Staffieri said. “I’d say we’re even more determined to get a W now that we were so close to a victory last week.”
The matchup between Morrissey and Duncan will take place Sunday at 1 p.m. at LaBar Practice Complex.
O’Neill v. Dillon
By Darcy Dehais
This Sunday, O’Neill takes on Dillon as it looks to recover after suffering a shutout in week one. Dillon will aim to start its season on a strong note after last week’s bye.
O’Neill sophomore captain Charlie Puntillo said the Angry Mob have been preparing to expand their offensive options.
“We’ve been practicing a lot and working on a couple of plays offensively,” Puntillo said. “We’re trying to diversify our offense a little bit. We could only do one thing last week offensively.”
On the other side, the Big Red look to begin their season with a win, relying heavily on their defensive line. Dillon junior captain John Walsh said his team is excited to begin its season.
“[We’re looking forward to] just getting out there against somebody besides ourselves,” Walsh said. “We’ve just had practice against each other. It’s not much fun playing against guys from your own team, so it will be nice to have some different bodies out there and see what we can do.”
Dillon will field a young team this year, as half the squad is comprised of new players. Walsh said the Big Red are still determining the team strategy, but are confident that their first game of the season will help them develop as a team.
“We have twelve returning players and twelve new ones, so we obviously lost a bunch to graduation,” Walsh said. “There’s a couple kids that I don’t really know what their roles are going to be yet, so we have to see what we can do. I think Sunday will give us a good idea of what’s going to happen for the rest of the year.”
This week the Angry Mob will focus on the strength of their linemen, Puntillo noted.
“We have a good offensive and defensive line — we’re really strong up front,” Puntillo said. “If everyone else can do their job, those guys will take care of it.”
O’Neill and Dillon will face off Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at LaBar Practice Complex.
Sorin v. Dunne
By Brennan Buhr
It will be the old versus the new on Sunday afternoon as Sorin and Dunne prepare to face off in Dunne’s first game ever. Sorin looks to build upon a rich interhall football tradition, while Dunne will try to blaze a path of its own in its inaugural year.
Despite planning to compete with a few key players absent and coming off a 14-8 loss last Sunday against Carroll, Otters junior captain Shane Anderson is confident in the team’s preparation and plan to leave it all out on the field this weekend.
“We are still putting in a lot of schematics,” Anderson said. “Last week was definitely a learning experience, but there were glimmers of hope, for sure. Going forward, I think we have the players, the talent, and the coaching to do really well.”
On the other side of the ball, Sentinels senior captain Joe Schudt believes that his young team has what it takes to be competitive in its first game of the year and throughout the entire season.
“Our team is mostly freshmen, but they’ve been pretty good so far, they’ve learned the offense very quickly,” Schudt said. “I think we will have some fun this season, and maybe we’ll even win a few.”
The game will kick off at 2:15 pm on Sunday at LaBar Practice Complex.
Keenan v. Alumni
By Kyle Barry
Both teams will place their perfect records on the line as Keenan takes on Alumni this Sunday.
The Knights, who defeated Keough 3-0 last weekend, are looking to improve coming into the matchup on Sunday, according to junior captain Gregory Brainard.
“This week we’re focusing on consistency on offense,” Brainard said. “We had a few really solid drives last Sunday against Keough, but we’re looking to create more red zone opportunities and capitalize on them.”
The Knights’ defense is the core of the team, Brainard said, after it forced two turnovers in their last game.
“Our defensive mentality is ‘bend-don’t-break,’ and we’re going to bring that mentality into the game on Sunday,” Brainard said.
Meanwhile, the Dawgs, led by senior captain Nicholas Lund, look to continue their success after posting a 28-0 shutout over O’Neill last weekend.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Dawgs were running on all cylinders last week, scoring twice in each half.
One of the key players on that offense is senior running back Alex Alcantara, who had two touchdowns on the ground.
On the defensive side of the ball, Lund, a middle linebacker, and the Dawgs stood their ground throughout the game against O’Neill and kept the Angry Mob from scoring a single point.
“I told our guys to go out there and hit people, do what we know, go forward with the basic plan, and we went out there and got ourselves a win,” Lund said after the game last weekend.
Keenan and Alumni will battle it out at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at LaBar Practice Complex.
Cavanaugh v. Lyons
By Ryan Lokhorst
Lyons and Cavanaugh will both look to get their records to .500 when they face off this Sunday.
Lyons (1-2) had a strong start to the season, defeating Lewis, before dropping its next two contests to Badin and Pasquerilla West. Cavanaugh (1-2) is coming off a tight 13-12 loss to Badin. Therefore, Sunday’s game is critical for the rest of the season for both teams as they fight to get back on the winning track.
The Lions may not have begun the season exactly as they hoped, but they still remain optimistic. Junior Lions captain Carly Meacham noted that the energy and enthusiasm for the team is present in the strong turnout of girls and the overall eagerness to improve.
“We have a lot of girls showing up now,” Meacham said. “It’s really exciting for our program.”
The relatively inexperienced team made a few mistakes during the previous games, Meacham said, but Lyons is maintaining a positive outlook.
“I’m looking forward to all the girls getting excited, playing together,” Meacham said. “That’s what Lyons flag football is all about.”
Similarly, Cavanaugh is motivated to earn its second victory of the season. The Chaos have been competitive in all three games so far, with their two losses coming by scores of 12-7 and 13-12. They will attempt to not just keep the game close, but come away with a much-needed win.
Lyons will take on Cavanaugh at Riehle Fields at 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
