OK, I know it’s not the Boys Bowl.  That comes the first week in October against Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.  But, longtime fans of Brother Rice and Catholic Central will always think of this legendary series as the true Boys Bowl.  The only thing missing is the Wisner Stadium venue and Sunday afternoon.  This year’s game is on Saturday night on CC’s Novi campus.  It’s certainly a very nice stadium, but the parking is terrible and I think the aluminum stands have a sterile feel.  I like the older, concrete stadiums with wood bleachers and close-to-the field (no track) seating.  I also think the game should be played during daytime.  A nice sunny fall Sunday afternoon is what I think about when I think about CC and Brother Rice football.  It used to be hard to miss the Lions game back in the Wisner days, but I always did.  That isn’t a problem anymore.

Another thing I remember about the Boys Bowl is that the game was always a toss-up, regardless of the team records.  You could always count on a hard-fought, close game–many times involving overtime.  The best one I remember is Rice driving the field to tie the score late in the game.  And CC driving to the Rice 33 yard line as time was running out.  CC’s TE/K, Eric Kosamowski booted a 50 yard field goal as time expired to win the game.  Sounds a little like last year’s Ryan Kelly heroics.  I may be off a little on the timing and distance and kicker’s name, but that’s roughly what happened.  It was the best game in the series, although there have been many that were similar.

One thing that this year’s game has going for it is that both team’s are highly-ranked and undefeated.  In my rankings, CC is #2 and Rice is #3.  In Searn’s combined ratings (a consensus rank of Searn, Prepseer, Markowski, McCabe and MI Preps) CC is #5 and Rice is #7.  The game has huge implications for the CHSL Central race and even for state playoff qualification.  The loser Saturday will have to win three more games to make the playoffs.  Rice will play DeLaSalle, Divine Child, OLSM, Indianapolis Cathedral and either DLS/CC or a top-tier PSL team in Week 9.  CC’s path would be a bit easier with a loss Saturday.  They have remaining games against Divine Child, UD Jesuit, DeLaSalle and OLSM plus either the Prep Bowl or PSL  CC could lose to Rice, DLS and OLSM and still have a good shot at the playoffs.  Rice would probably have to beat either OLSM or DLS.  The game Saturday will give the winning team momentum and the loser will be in a hole.

Now to the game itself:  Much has been written about the classic power vs. finese battle that looms Saturday.  It’s true to an extent.  Rice has the skill players.  CC has the beef.  Rice plays a more wide-open multiple offense game while CC likes to control the clock with long drives.  Rice passes a lot.  CC rarely passes.   But Rice also runs the ball and has some break-away threats.  CC also passes–ocassionally–and can use the surprise pass effectively.

As for personnel, Rice has the edge in the skill positions while CC has the edge on both lines  Both teams have excellent linebackers.  I think Rice has more Division One talent, but I’m not sure that’s a real factor in this game.  Kevonte Martin-Manley (Bowling Green) will be the only player on the field to have committed.  The other top prospects from Rice are juniors (Pickens, Hart and Hamilton).  CC’s Palazeti and Sherman will get looks, as will Michael Kinville.  CC’s other top players and Rice’s QB are excellent players, but may be too small for Div. 1.

Following is a profile on each team and some keys to the game:

Brother Rice:

Strengths:  Passing Game, Defensive Backfield, Linebackers, Depth

Weakness:  Offensive Line, Penalties

Improving:  Defensive Line, Running Game

Brother Rice has played a slightly more difficult schedule than CC.  UD Jesuit was better than Cody in the opener.  St. John’s was a little better than Hudsonville and Highland Park was considerably better than Monroe.   Rice was flawless in its opener against UD and looked strong against Toledo St. John’s, except for the four interceptions thrown by Frankie Popp.  He countered that with four TD passes, but he needs to protect better against the pick.  He did that in Week Three, although that was far from an adequate offensive performance.  Highland Park had a lot to do with Rice inept offense, and Rice will have to improve their performance both rushing and passing, in order to have a chance to beat CC.

Rice has a bevy of skill players, both at wide receiver and running back.  The number one guy is Kevonte Martin-Manley.  He is a threat on every play to go the distance.  He’s going to be open most of the time.  If Popp can get him the ball, he has a good chance to score, almost at will.  He is getting a lot of double teams, which has helped the #2 receiver, Nate Saldivar-Garcia.  He has looked very strong on both short and long routes and actually leads the team in receiving.  Kyle Galli has become the #3 receiver and Tight Ends Joe Warner (soph.) and Tyler Weir (senior) both have receptions.

The Running Back positon is also very deep.  Five backs reguarly get the call.  The team leader is Jimmy Pickens, who plays on offense part time.  He is averaging close to 100 yards a game (18 yards per carry) and has five touchdowns rushing.  He has had three long TD runs called back because of a penalty.  He’s a tough runner with speed, which means he can go all the way inside or outside.  He’s a valuable defensive player, so his offensive touches will always be limited.  But, he is a game-breaker.  Jeff DeClaire has yet to break out for a big game, but he had a couple last year and is a capable back.  Two pleasant surprises in the backfield are senior, Nate Slappy and Soph., Devin Church.  Both have excellent speed and provide a lot of depth to the backfield.  They are getting more carries in each successive game.

Special Teams:  Martin-Manley gets the nod here as the best in the game.  He has had record-breaking games already this year on both Punt Returns and Kickoff Returns.  His 75 yard kickoff return last week against Highland Park set up Rice’s second touchdown in a 13-6 victory over Highland Park.  Rice had to replace both kickers from last year.  So far, so good.  Adam Gorski, on loan from the soccer team, is a newcomer to footbal and he has done a good job.  He is 14 out of 15 on extra points and puts about half of his kickoffs in the end zone.  Frankie Popp has taken over the punting duties and been averaging over 35 yards per punt.

Defense:  There was a question going into the season on the D-Line.  It was all-new this year.  I’ve been pleasantly surprised, particularly with the mobility of Levi Richards, III (junior) and the pass rushing of Conor Hart (junior).  The other two-Chris Lentini and Tony Goebel are first year starters who have been improving each game.  The heart of the defense is the trio of linebackers:  senior, Justin Cherocci, senior, Peter Namou and junior, Jumbo Hamilton.  Cherocci is picking up where he left off last year when he led the state of Michigan in tackles.  His numbers are down a little this year due to the presence of Jumbo Hamilton, a top D-1 prospect who currently is #2 on the team in tackles.  Jumbo’s hits are of the bone-crushing variety and he has great lateral speed for a big man  In the first three games, he’s had two tackles for loss, two pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.  In the 4th quarter at Highland Park as the Polar Bears were starting their drive to tie the game, Jumbo batted a pass at the line and allowed Michael Johnson to intercept the ball.  The third linebacker, Namou, is a first year starter, but he got a lot of playing time last year.  He is the third leading tackler on the team and already has an interception and a fumble recovery.

The secondary is every bit as strong as the linebackers.  Jimmy Pickens (junior) is a three year starter at safety.  Loran Jaddou (junior) is a two-year starter.  It’s an awesome pair that are equally adept at covering deep and blitzing.  Jadou, in particlarly is a ball hawk, just like his brother Mazen was.  If there’s a fumble or a ball thrown into coverage, Loaran will be there.  He already has a fumble recovery and interception.  Pickens’ forte is speed and hitting.  As a freshman, he set a school record for most pass break-ups in a game.   The corners are both seniors–Michael Brown and Michael Johnson.  Both are Div. 1 recruits and both are excellent lock-down corners.  Each is backed up by a sophomore with high potential–Devin Church and Cody Ellwanger.  Another pleasant surprise in the secondary is Saldivar-Garcia.  He filled in for an injured Jaddou in the opening game and played great.  He’s now getting spot play on defense and has become one of the defense’s surest tacklers and pass defenders.

Keys to the game for Rice:

Minimize penalties and avoid turnovers

Control the ball on offense, mixing passes and runs

Win the special teams game

Effective pass blocking

Detroit Catholic Central

Strengths:  Offensive and Defensive lines, Power running game, linebackers

Weaknesses:  Offensive play-calling, deep passing game, secondary, 2-way players

Improving:  Quarterback play,  Tight Ends

CC has yet to give up a point in three games.  That level of perfection is daunting, even though the level of competition was less than stellar.  Give CC credit however for some outstanding play–on both sides of the ball.   Comparing scores of different teams is hard, unless you see the games and know how the teams substituted reserves.  In the CC game against Hudsonville, the starters for CC played into the fourth quarter, even with a running clock.  That is highly unusual.  Did the starters play most of the Cody and Monroe games as well.  The blowouts may be skewed because of the failure to substitute and hold the score down.  Maybe Coach Mach was conditioning his players, most of whom are two-way starters.

The Shamrocks are a powerhouse team reminiscent of years past.  Niko Palazeti, the fullback and defensive tackle is the heart of the team.  He is a bruising runner that is difficult to bring down, by even the best defender.  On defense, he is going to require a double-team.  He doesn’t get a lot of tackles, because of the double-team and the fact most teams run away from him.  His biggest threat is rushing the passer.  Frankly, I’m a little surprised that he plays both ways.  He is far more valuable on offense.  He could be replaced on the D-Line.    The biggest strength of the CC team is its ability to pound the ball offensively and control the clock with mistake-free execution.  It’s frustrates lesser teams and allows CC to keep the momentum on its side.  They do it with a very simple running game.  Defenses know what’s coming, but they can’t stop it.  Palazeti is the bull.  Butch Herzog and Jon Sevakus are the speedsters.  They are tough runners with good, not great speed.  One of those backs will probably not start once Anthony Capatina returns from his injury.  That may happened last week at Monroe.  I didn’t see this game.  Whichever player doesn’t start will likely get significant playing time.  Capatina adds the real speed element to the powerhouse backfield.  He’s on the small side, but he is tough enough to withstand a pounding.  He can be stopped, but will surely break a long one or two during every game.  Capatina is also a threat to pass from the halfback position.  He had a long touchdown pass in last year’s Rice game.   CC is a better team with Anthony in the backfield.  CC also has a couple good younger runners–Andrew Erickson and Justin Messner, but they don’t get a lot of playing time.

Completing the backfield is senior QB, Sam Landry.  A southpaw, Landry has impreved his passing accuracy this year and he is a solid field general.  He is not going to be the prolific passer that Rice’s Popp is, but he is more than adequate.  CC’s passing game relies on the surprise factor.  They lull the defense into a daze trying to defend the pounding rushing game.  Once they put eight or nine into the box., CC will slip the Tight End out deep over the middle and hit him with a surprise pass.  The key to defending CC is being alert for the surprise pass.

CC will run mostly out of  the tight T-Formation, with an occasional Power I.  They used to run the Wing-T a lot, but didn’t in the game I saw against Hudsonville.  Look for them to run the Wing a lot more against Rice.  They also throw the halfback pass once or twice a game.  Look for one of those Saturday.    John Jakubik is a decent wide receiver, but he is prone to dropping balls.  He needs to be covered however, for the two or three throws he gets each game.  CC’s passing game mostly involves the TE, George Darany.  Another threat in the passing game is Palazeti on the screen pass.  He can pick up big chunks of yardage if he gets beyond the initial line of defense.

CC appears to be passing more this year than in the past few.  It looks like they are running about 2/3 rushing plays and 1/3 passing.   One of the keys to stopping CC is to get an early lead, stop the running game and force CC to pass more frequently.  That is out of character for the Shamrocks and often not successful.

The CC defense is very strong (three shutouts), but will be tested by Rice’s multiple offense.  They will need to shut down Pickens.  He’s had a long run in each game and is a threat to break out on every carry.  The linebacking corps for CC are all on top of the leader board in tackles and will be a key for the Shamrocks Saturday.  Senior, Michael Kinville is the leader of the defense, supported by Justin D’Agostino (junior) and Butch Herzog (senior).  CC will need a big game from this group.  CC is good against the run, but they didn’t sack once in the Hudsonville game–a heavy passing team.  They will need to pressure Rice’s Popp in order to win the game.

A pretty good cornerback is junior, Andrew Nelson.  He will get the job covering Martin-Manley.  He’s one of the few CC players who doesn’t  go both ways.  He’ll need to be fresh to keep up with MM and Garcia for that matter.

The Special Teams for CC is not as strong as Rice in my opinion.  Jakubik and Savakus are decent kick returners and can take it all the way, but they are not the threat that Martin-Manley and Saldivar-Garcia present.  As for kickers, Popp is averaging more on punts than Corey Smith.  D’Agostino kicks them deep on kickoffs, but in six tries against Hudsonville, he didn’t put one in the end zone.  He is very accurate on extra points and is a field goal threat.

Keys to the game for CC:

Keep Two-Way players fresh

Win the battle of ball possession

Success with the “surprise” pass

Special Teams Coverage on Kick-offs and Punts

In my Top 25 Game Picks, I picked CC to win by 3.  I’m going with the odds and with my rankings.  I have CC ranked slightly higher than Rice.  In reality, the game is a toss-up.  I think it might help Rice if they go into the game as a solid underdog.  I think most media prognosticators wll go for CC in this one.  That’s fine.  No one is 100% on their picks, even me.  I hope I’m wrong on this one.  The odds are definitely with CC.  They could easily have won in each of the last two years, but lost close games.  No team in this long series has won more than five games in a row.  Rice has a five game winning streak.  Will they make it six.  The odds say no.  It’s possible, if they can play mistake free ball and stop Niko Palazeti.   It should be a great game, with the winner advancing to number one in the state after Macomb Dakota beats Sterling Heighs Stevenson in Week Five.