Scouting St. Viator @ Cary-Grove

Posted October 29, 2009 11:00 pm

By Marty Maciaszek

No. 16 St. Viator (5-4) at No. 1 Cary-Grove (9-0)

When: 1 p.m. Saturday at Al Bohrer Field

Last week: St. Viator d. St. Joseph 28-0; Cary-Grove d. Dundee-Crown 57-12

Playoff history: St. Viator is 6-12 and is making its 13th trip and first since 2006 under Chris Kirkpatrick. Cary-Grove is 22-15 and is making its sixth straight trip under Bruce Kay and 16th overall.

Outlook: Fox Valley powerhouse Cary-Grove knows it didn't get an easy draw against one of the seven playoff teams from the East Suburban Catholic Conference. "This is an awfully good 5-4 team," Kay said. "For a No. 1 seed, this is more like a quarterfinal game or better. They're record is deceiving - 31-28 (loss) to Joliet Catholic. That says it right there." But Kirkpatrick doesn't find anything deceiving in why Cary produced another perfect regular season. "The thing I'm most impressed with about them is you see them playing consistent football," Kirkpatrick said. "And as you know, we've been up and down and down and up." Viator didn't face a triple option team (Carmel) this year but is familiar with what it will see from RB Alex Hembrey and QB Tyler Krebs, who has improved his passing this year, against LB Sean Conerty and NT Connor Ptacin. But the Lions will take their chances with senior QB and ESCC MVP Julian Sipiora (1,186 yards passing, 11 TDs; 835 rushing, 11 TDs). "I don't know if we've seen a quarterback like their quarterback this year," Kirkpatrick said, "but I don't know if they've seen a quarterback like ours, either." Senior Richard McLoughlin (38-562, 6 TDs) is Sipiora's top target and the Lions could get a boost with RB Pat O'Malley rounding into form. The Trojans' closest call, a 31-28 win on a last-minute TD over McHenry, was against 2,000-yard passer Thomas Rose. "They throw the ball deep more than McHenry does and they do it with very good effectiveness," Kay said. "(Sipiora and McLoughlin) are two major problems."

Advancement: The winner would host No. 8 Mather (7-2) or visit No. 9 Highland Park (6-3) in the second round.

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