Football - News Football - News
News | Roster | Schedules--Results | Archives
9/24/06-Football
Warriors win round one
By KEITH DUNLAP Of The Oakland Press
LATHRUP VILLAGE--Judging by what took place on Saturday night, fans of high school football can only hope Birmingham Brother Rice and Orchard Lake St. Mary's play twice more this season.
Battling to the end yet again, the teams entertained a packed stadium at Southfield-Lathrup High School the entire game, but it was the Brother Rice faithful that went home happiest after the Warriors pulled out a 14-7 win over St. Mary's in a game between two unbeatens in the Catholic League Central division.
While defending Division 2 state champion Brother Rice won the first battle, two more could be forthcoming, one in the Catholic League Prep Bowl on Oct. 21 and another in the state playoffs.
St. Mary's won the first two meetings between the teams last year before Brother Rice won the game that ultimately counted in the state playoffs.
Brother Rice (5-0, 2-0 CHSL Central) made it two wins in a row over the Eaglets thanks in large part to senior quarterback Mike Cappetto.
Committed to Duke, Cappetto easily outplayed his more heralded counterpart, St. Mary's senior Justin Siller, who has committed to play at Purdue.
Cappetto went 12-of-16 passing for 182 yards and a touchdown, while the Warriors made it a miserable night for Siller, who went 5-of-19 passing for 83 yards and three interceptions.
St. Mary's (4-1, 1-1) struck first in the game when Siller capped off a six-play, 39-yard drive by running the ball into the end zone to give the Eaglets a 7-0 lead with 4:30 left in the first half.
Brother Rice answered on the next drive, when Cappetto threw a bomb down the sidelines on third-and-long to senior Kaunda Hancock, who caught the ball and raced to the end zone to tie the game at 7-7 with 1:17 left in the half.
The senior remained that way until Brother Rice took the lead for good on a 1-yard touchdown run by junior Caulton Ray with 7:12 remaining in the game.
After an interception on St. Mary's next possession by senior Joey Henry, Brother Rice seemed ready to put the game away after driving down to the St. Mary's 15-yard line, but a missed 33-yard field goal with 1:42 left gave the Eaglets one last chance.
St. Mary's managed to drive all the way down to the Brother Rice 30, but an interception by Hancock inside the 10 with under seven seconds left sealed the deal for Brother Rice.
Hancock finished with five receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown and Chris Colasanti had eight tackles on defense for Brother Rice. Alex Delisi made 11 tackles in a losing effort for St. Mary's.
The Eaglets struggled to get into any kind of rhythm offensively, and when they did mount drives, they stalled.
On the possession before Siller's touchdown run, St. Mary's drove down to the Brother Rice 10, but elected to go for it on fourth-and-goal instead of kicking a field goal.
Brother Rice stopped St. Mary's, but couldn't get a first down offensively, which led to the good field position on St. Mary's lone touchdown drive.
The Eaglets also drove to the Brother Rice 17 in the third quarter, but failed to convert a fourth-and-1.
The Warriors also had a drive stall in St. Mary's territory when they were stopped on a fourth-and-1 at the St. Mary's 33-yard line early in the fourth quarter.
Copyright 2006, St. Mary's Preparatory, Orchard Lake, Michigan. All rights reserved.
No logos, photographs, or graphics on the site may be reproduced without written permission.