Scouting Aurora Christian @ Guerin Prep
By Dave Oberhelman
Aurora Christian (5-3, 4-0)
at Guerin Prep (3-5, 0-4)
Game time: 1 p.m. Saturday.
Last year: Did not play.
Last week: St. Francis 35, Aurora Christian 20; Guerin 1, Driscoll 0 (forfeit).
Outlook: With a playoff berth and at least a share of the Suburban Christian Conference Gold title wrapped up, there's nothing more for Aurora Christian to do than collect its sixth win and waltz into the postseason, right? Wrong, said Eagles coach Don Beebe. "Guerin might have the worst record in our conference, but it's a great conference... they've got some players," he said. Guerin - a coed amalgam of former Holy Cross and Mother Guerin high schools - is young on the line and across the board, but Beebe likes Gators senior dual-threat quarterback Dennis Kelly. "This kid can cause some problems," Beebe said. He's got solutions in linebacker David Benson and defensive end Dean Griffing, whose 8.5 sacks tie him for Aurora Christian's season record with 2009 graduate Pete Kariotis. Last week the Eagles faced another dual-threat quarterback in St. Francis' Collin O'Donnell, and Beebe thought they did pretty well, except for a couple offensive mistakes. This was much different from the one-sided 41-8 loss Aurora Christian took against another SCC Blue foe, Montini. The main offensive force for the Eagles was sophomore quarterback Grayson Roberts, who despite taking his first sack of the season passed for 163 yards with a touchdown to Sheldon Magee, who has caught 39 passes for 626 yards, 6 touchdowns. Scouting Guerin, Beebe sees the Gators playing an 8-man defensive front to force the run. "If that was me that's what I'd try to do," but Aurora Christian back Johnny Magee is just 31 yards away from 1,000, at 969 yards and 13 touchdowns. Overall, Beebe is convincing his players to enter the playoffs executing correctly and with a head of steam. After what he called the best week of practice in the whole season, it seems to be working. "I think the boys are starting to dial it in, and they realize it's getting close to one and done," Beebe said.