Friday, September 25, 1998

Calvert, St.Wendelin share a sense of respect

By Dave Feltner
Sports Editor

It is something along the lines of mutual respect.

Talk to St. Wendelin coach Coby Coburn and he'll tell you how dangerous Calvert is. Talk to Calvert coach Toby Hammond and he'll tell you how dangerous St. Wendelin is.

Together, these longtime rivals represent the initial Midland Athletic League obstacle of the 1998 season.

The Senecas already have something special in the making after a 3-0 start and a state ranking for the first time in 12 years, while the Mohawks are just trying to get their feet on the ground.

When the two hook up at Memorial Stadium Saturday night, it will be the first time St. Wendelin fields its complete team this year. Various suspensions have left the Mohawks (1-2) without any combination of eight players through the first three weeks.

That in itself makes St. Wendelin somewhat of an enigma.

''They're the best team that we've played this year now that they have everybody back,'' Hammond said of the Mohawks. ''You couldn't say that at the beginning of the year, but they've got some very good skill kids. (Andy) Faber, (Aaron) Rouser, (Fred) Reinhard and (Nick) Moes are all kids who have played a lot.''

Rouser, the teams top receiver the last three years, was moved to running back in last week's 17-6 loss to Ayersville and will likely get the start there against Calvert in order to get him the ball more.

Faber is still the team's leading rusher with 120 yards on 19 carries in just one game at running back.

Moes, the quarterback, has gotten off to a shaky start, hitting just 16-of-58 passes for 203 yards. He's thrown four interceptions and just one touchdown.

The Mohawks will be working against a Calvert defense rated third in the MAL (175.7 yards per game), and first against the run (59.3 ypg).

But it's on the offensive side of the ball where the Senecas are grabbing attention.

Junior quarterback Nate Keller leads the league in passing (657 yards), completions percentage (48.2 percent) and his 11 TD passes are eight more than the next closest MAL quarterback.

Keller's two favorite targets, Bart Fisher (16 catches) and Todd Iannantuono (11), are 1-2 in the league in receptions and have combined for 482 yards and eight TDs.

''It's definitely a big problem,'' said Coburn of the Calvert passing attack. ''You just have to try and do what you do best. You can't go out there and make a whole lot of radical changes and try to stop everything they do. You know they're going to complete some passes; you just can't let them have the big play.

''Calvert has developed into a fine, fine football team,'' he said. ''I have a lot of respect for what Toby has done over there the last few years. Their young quarterback has played well, and they've improved every week.''

And keeping that going is at the forefront of Hammond's mind.''

''Our lack of concentration worries me,'' Hammond said. ''We need to cut down on the mental mistakes. I know if you're sitting in the stands you'd think we're playing well, but we're not. It's the types of things you see on film when you run back the tape.''

The Senecas own a 31-10 advantage in the all-time series, including a 32-7 winlast season.

The two have one commong opponent this year, Cardinal Stritch. Calvert beat the Cardinals, 28-21, while St. Wendelin suffered a 21-8 defeat the following week.

''Our passing game hasn't been what I thought it would be,'' St. Wendelin coach Coby Coburn said. ''And we need to get our running game going, too. That will open up our passing. Our main thrust this week is trying to keep the ball in our hands. They can't throw the ball if they don't have it.

''We're hoping we can get into the fourth quarter with the score reasonably close. In order to that we need to hang on to the ball as much as we can.''