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10/23/05-Football
St. Mary's dumps Brother Rice again
Siller throws two touchdown passes and defense dominates for No. 1 Eaglets.
By Tom Markowski / The Detroit News
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DETROIT -- As good as Birmingham Brother Rice's defense was Saturday night the one at Orchard Lake St. Mary's was just a bit better.
St. Mary's clamped down on Brother Rice's running game and the Eaglets made enough big plays offensively to defeat the Warriors 20-7 in the Catholic League A-B Division final at Ford Field. For top-ranked St. Mary's (9-0) it was its first league title since 2001.
St. Mary's held No. 4-ranked Brother Rice (7-2) without a first down until midway through the second quarter and without a point until there was 3:11 left in the game. By that time the Eaglets had a 20-0 lead.
"I think it was both defenses that played well," St. Mary's coach George Porritt said. "We couldn't run the ball worth nothing. Their defense hit the heck out of us. We've got to get over this and get ready for the playoffs. It's Saturday and we don't have that much time to get ready. Thankfully we're at home."
St. Mary's will play host to a first-round playoff game at 1 p.m. Saturday against an opponent to be determined. And if the Eaglets keep on winning they'll also play host to a second- and third-round game.
Junior quarterback Justin Siller led St. Mary's by throwing two touchdown passes, one to Nick Koenigsknecht of 71 yards and the other to Anthony Bowman for 12. Siller was 8-for-15 for 173 and one interception, his first of the season.
"We came out a little flat," Siller said. "I had a mental mistake and threw that interception. We had to stay focused."
St. Mary's defense held Brother Rice in check long enough for the offense to regroup. Two 27-yard field goals by Steve Andrews gave St. Mary's a 6-0 midway through the second quarter. Siller's touchdown pass to Koenigsknecht came with 2:17 left in the first half and St. Mary's led 13-0.
Brother Rice reached the St. Mary's 13 but elected to go for it on fourth down instead of attempt a field-goal. Koenigsknecht broke up a Mike Cappetto pass intended Joey Henry in the end with 29 seconds left to keep the Warriors off the board.
Bowman's touchdown came with 2:56 left in the third quarter, a quarter that saw Brother Rice gain just 14 yards.
Coach Al Fracassa went to Andy Lentz at quarterback in the final minutes and the sophomore led the Warriors on an eight-play, 95-yard drive for a touchdown. John Goebel (13 carries, 94 yards) caught the 14-yard scoring pass with 3:11 left to avoid the shutout.
"They're a big-play team," Fracassa said. "Their guy (Siller) is good. He wears No. 7. He's like Michael Vick out there."
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