Mens Interhall Football: Undefeated Alumni, Morrissey square off
By: LISA REIJULA, JUSTIN SHUVER and TREY WILLIAMS
Only two teams in the men's interhall gold league, Alumni and Morrissey, remain unbeaten this season.
Only one team will be able to say that after this Sunday's.
Alumni (2-0) might appear to have the edge, having knocked off defending champion Dillon in the season opener and pounding O'Neill 22-6 last week.
The Dawgs boast a tough defense and a strong rushing offense. Junior tailback Alex Roodhouse was the offensive standout against O'Neill, piling up the majority of the team's yardage.
The Alumni passing game is led by quarterback Chris Cottingham, who connected with receiver Corey Harkins for a touchdown against O'Neill.
Senior co-captain Bailey Siegfried is confident about his team's chances against the Manorites.
"We're sticking to a game-by-game plan and trying for shutouts," he said. "We're not going to be affected by any hype about being undefeated."
Morrissey (1-0) is looking forward to the challenge Sunday's game with Alumni presents. The Manorites beat Keough last week 10-7, limiting the Kangaroos to only 50 yards offensively. Matt Werger's field goal in the fourth quarter clinched the victory for the Manorites.
"The score looked a lot closer than it really was," Werger said. "We dominated the game, and our defense was really overpowering."
The Morrissey offense will look to make minor improvements for Sunday. There was an error on a field goal snap and another attempt was blocked. Other than that, the Manorites will not be changing their game for the Dawgs.
"Alumni seems to be the team to beat this year," Werger said. "It's our first real major test and it should be a great game. It should be a good battle between our teams."
O'Neill vs. Stanford
With both teams coming off lopsided losses, either O'Neill or Stanford will have a chance to reverse their fortunes Sunday.
O'Neill lost to Alumni 22-6 in their last game, while Stanford fell to Dillon 20-8.
The Griffins (1-1) are disappointed in their record, but still feel that they are in a good position to have a successful season.
"Ideally after two games we wanted to be 2-0," Griffins captain Adam Oyster said. "We plan on winning these next games and getting in the playoffs."
Oyster said he was disappointed in his team's fundamentals against Dillon.
"We didn't play disciplined ball," he said. "We weren't defensively sound. We had a lot of bad arm tackling, so we focused on that in practice."
The Angry Mob (0-2) was not any happier with their result last Sunday.
"We came out and didn't open up holes on offense," O'Neill captain Jesse Norman said. "This game, we need to come out aggressive and play hard the whole way through."
Norman praised the play of linebacker/fullback Phil Kierl and linebacker Mark Yost in last Sunday's loss.
"We need to win our last games," he said. "It's definitely possible for us. We have the talent to do it. This is the best team that O'Neill's ever had."
Oyster said that he admired the play of linebacker Vin Monaco in the Dillon game. Monaco was forced to shift from outside linebacker to middle linebacker after the usual Stanford middle linebacker was unable to play.
Oyster also said that he believes his team is ready to face the Angry Mob.
"One thing we've looked at is that they're one of the few teams who run the shotgun often," Oyster said. "Their offense is a lot like ours, so we're getting ready for that."
Carroll vs. Siegfried
It just doesn't get any easier for Carroll, the dorm that didn't even field a team last season.
Last Sunday, the Vermin (0-2) lost their second game of the season to Fisher 7-0.
This Sunday, they get the chance to play Siegfried, a team that lost in the championship game last year and has had two weeks to prepare for Carroll.
Despite the look of an apparent mismatch, Carroll captain Justin Williams said his team hasn't changed its outlook.
"I'm sure it's going to be a tougher game, but the fact that they were in the championship game last year doesn't change how we practice," he said. "We still have to make blocks and tackles."
Carroll does have emotion on its side Sunday, looking to bounce back from the heartbreaking loss to Fisher.
"It was a hard-fought loss," Williams said. "We shot ourselves in the foot with a lot of mistakes. We played better than our last game, but just made too many mistakes at the wrong times."
They will have to win with a depleted starting lineup however, as one player was injured and another suspended in last week's game.
"That really hurts us," Williams said.
Siegfried co-captain and quarterback Bill Bingle said that his team has a little extra motivation this year to get back to the championship game.
"Because we lost [the championship], we don't think that we're ever going to lose this year," he said. "That's motivated us to come out and just try to beat every team that we play this year."
Zahm vs. St. Ed's
No matter if you shoot it or run it over, a zombie always comes back for more. The Zahmbies of Zahm Hall are no exception.
Last Sunday, Zahm (1-1) suffered its first loss at the hands of Knott, being shut out 7-0. The loss was a disappointing one after having played Knott equal in every way during the first half, matching strong defense with stronger defense and firm offense with firmer offense.
This weekend, however, is a new week, and Zahm is back for revenge with a new opponent and a new strategy as they take on St. Edward's (0-1).
"This week, we really focused on offense in practice," Zahm outside back Eric Tarnowski said. "We tried to fine tune everything and get everyone back on the same page."
Offense proved to be Zahm's Achilles heal last weekend. The offense was unable to break grips with the relentless Knott defense and went scoreless.
"We really weren't on top of our game," Tarnowski said. "Our offense struggled a lot in the first half and relied on the solid play of the defense."
The Zahm defense may have less trouble with St. Ed's, who went scoreless last week in a shut loss to Sorin, 20-0.
"Basically, we're just trying to get back to where we were," said Tarnowski of the Zahmbie game plan. "We're going in with a different strategy and approach. We want to play with a little more integrity this week."
All Sports Stories for Friday, October 4, 2002
