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11/2/06-Football
Central, St. Mary's prepare for playoff rematch
BY MIKE ROSENBAUM OF THE OBSERVER AND ECCENTRIC
Prior to last year's first-round playoff contest with Orchard Lake St. Mary's, Walled Lake Central's players and coaches apparently missed the memo telling them that their 5-4 team couldn't compete with the 9-0 Eaglets. As a result, the Vikings gave St. Mary's a battle before dropping a 35-26 decision.
This year's teams are more evenly-matched entering Saturday's Division 2 district final, which is scheduled to kick off at St. Mary's Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m. Both squads are 8-2 and are coming off impressive first-round playoff performances. Central defeated rival Walled Lake Western 30-7 Friday while the Eaglets blanked White Lake Lakeland 34-0 Saturday. On the season, St. Mary's has out-scored its opponents, 265-74, while the Vikings hold a similar 272-76 advantage.
Central employs the same basic offense, the Wing T, as St. Mary's faced last week against Lakeland. But Eaglets' coach George Porritt says the Vikings run their attack differently.
"They're even more multi-faceted (than Lakeland) and they've got some good speed out there. And I think their quarterback's terrific."
That quarterback, Torrey Stimson, ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns against St. Mary's last season. But Porritt is particularly impressed with the way Stimson handles the multi-option Wing T.
"He throws it and he can hold on," Porritt said. "He's got great deception with his hands."
Central's key runners include Nick Lusk, Kevin Long and Steve Robinson.
Defensively, Porritt expects the Vikings to employ their usual eight-man front in order to stop the run.
"You're going to see them coming from all different directions," Porritt said. "People have been attacking us that way so I wouldn't think (Central will do) anything different than they did last year. They came after us pretty hard."
St. Mary's will also attack Central with multiple runners. The Eaglets' backfield features tailbacks Chris Mitchell and Dominique White plus fullback Blair Hollis. Eaglets' quarterback Justin Siller is also a dangerous runner, on scrambles as well as planned running plays.
Siller, a strong-armed quarterback, has fleet receivers Dionte Allen and Taurian Washington available, along with tight end Pat Carroll. However, the Eaglets' passing game hasn't performed as well this season as it did in 2005.
The team that can supplement its running game with a solid passing attack should enjoy a key advantage Saturday.
Additionally, both teams are well aware of the importance of avoiding mistakes, as each squad parlayed opponents' turnovers into scores last week.
"You can't have turnovers, you can't have silly penalties," Porritt said. "It comes down to that. You've just got to execute and if you have turnovers, especially in the playoffs, it's costly."
Saturday's winner will advance to the Region 2 final next week.
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