Scouting St. Francis @ Aurora Central
By Dave Oberhelman
St. Francis (6-2, 1-2)
at Aurora Central Catholic (1-7, 0-3)
Game time: 7:30 p.m. today
Last year: St. Francis 49, Aurora Central 3.
Last week: St. Francis 35, Aurora Christian 20; Immaculate Conception 41, Aurora Central 14.
Outlook: It's pretty straightforward: "If we take care of the ball we can compete. But that hasn't been the case," said Chargers coach Mike Curry. Last week the Chargers lost 3 of 5 fumbles and added an interception, all of which combined for Immaculate Conception drives that produced 28 points. "It's just a recipe for disaster the way we've been going," said Curry, who also blamed himself for calling a fake punt that was stopped short of a first down and gave IC field position. "But you forget about it and practice hard the next week." And try to build on what worked - like the 10-of-13 passing day enjoyed by junior quarterback Stewart DeWaard, who zipped in a 22-yard touchdown pass to Justin Garcia for an early 6-0 lead. The old one-two of Alex Schaefer and Andrew Scott on the ground did their usual solid job, combining for 133 yards rushing and Schaefer's 3-yard touchdown run. Schaefer stands at 694 yards entering the last game of his prep career. It'll be tough sledding against the speedy 3-5 defense of the defending Class 5A state champions, who have held teams to an average of 82.4 yards rushing. Linebackers Colin Marshall and Conner Malloy are the Spartans' top two tacklers. From right to left - Adam Blake, Tyler Scott, John Belovich, Cullen Rogers and Mike Ryan - ACC's offensive line has to be extra sharp. St. Francis' Wing-T offense relies on speed on the line as well as backs Mark Schmitt and Bob Miller and quarterback Collin O'Donnell, who doesn't pass much but is accurate (33 of 55, 6 touchdowns, zero interceptions) when he does. "We've got to hope we can get to the spot of the field they're running to before they do," Curry said. "That's going to take some doing. And it's also going to take some guessing." At the start of this season, Curry said this team would be better than last year's. It has been, allowing less points (280 to 355) and scoring more (117 to 114) than in 2008. The Hall of Fame coach is asking his players to leave it all on the field one last time, no regrets, win or lose. "Effort," he said, "is the key to being successful in life."