No. 6 St. Frances (4-1) vs. No. 8 Calvert Hall (4-1)
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Morgan State
Coaches: Henry Russell, St. Frances; Donald Davis, Calvert Hall
Last meeting: Calvert Hall won, 34-20, last season
KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH
ST. FRANCES: RB Gary Brightwell, Sr.; TE Myles Wright, Sr.; QB Isaiah Robinson, Sr.; WR Randy Fields, Jr.; OL James Goodwin, Sr.; LB Sam Thomas, Sr.; DB Jordan Swann, Sr.; DB Caleb John, Sr.
CALVERT HALL: LB Tyshon Fogg, Sr.; RB BJ Watson, Sr.; WR Kam Brooks, Sr.; DB Michael Sawyer, Sr.; OL Craig Wood, Sr.; K Jeff Kordenbrock, Sr.; DB Isaiah Watson, Jr.
KEYS TO VICTORY
At this point last season, these two teams had won a combined three games, but now they're both contenders in what's shaping up to be a fierce Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference battle.
The Panthers won just one game last season and were winless in the A Conference, but the revamped program — under first-year coach Russell and much of the rest of the coaching staff that relocated with him from Gilman last spring — has been impressive early in the season. They defeated the No. 1 team in South Carolina, South Pointe, and were beating Paramus Catholic (N.J.) at halftime before falling, 38-20.
Even though most of this team just came together over the summer, the Panthers have exceptional athletes playing well at every position, led by Brightwell and Robinson on offense and Thomas on defense.
Ask Davis what their strengths are and he has a quick answer.
"Everything. They're big, they're strong, they're fast, they're physical and they're motivated," Davis said. "So when you get a group of coaches and kids playing with a chip on their shoulder, they become very dangerous.".
Davis pointed to Brightwell and the Panthers' many options in their versatile offense, including 6-foot-4 junior wide receiver Tyree Henry.
Although the all-time record between the two programs is 2-2, the Panthers have won two of three meetings with Calvert Hall since moving into the A Conference in 2013.
The Cardinals have also improved since last fall and they too have some of the area's best talent, including Fogg and the Watson brothers.
"Their running game has been very impressive," Russell said. "They've got speed with the Watson kid (BJ) and others and their linebacker, Tyshon Fogg, has been a heck of a player the past couple years. They have a lot of playmakers, they play hard and Donald always does a good job getting his team motivated."
The Cardinals haven't played as strong of an early schedule, but they also had an early lead in their only loss, 22-21 to Riverdale Baptist. Still, they outscored their other four opponents 163-33.
The one place the Cardinals have a distinct advantage is in the kicking game where Kordenbrock has been impressive on field goals and kickoffs. For the Panthers, kicking is their biggest weakness.
Both teams are capable of breaking a big play on special teams, on offense or on defense. Just one could be enough to win. Both coaches believe preventing that will be critical to winning this game.
"I think it's going to come down to making plays late in the game and you never know where it's going to be," Russell said. "I think there will be a handful of plays, some big momentum plays, and whoever can capitalize on that will have the advantage."
To Davis, "for us to win, we have to control the football, we have to force some turnovers and we have to be significantly better in the kicking game. For them to win, they need to force us to turn the football over and they're going to need explosive plays —a big run, a turnover for a touchdown. Those are the things that would tip it in either team's favor, but we're really going to need to establish field position in order to win."
OTHER GAMES TO WATCH
No. 2 Archbishop Spalding at No. 14 Loyola Blakefield, Friday, 4:30 p.m.
No. 7 Annapolis at No. 15 Arundel, Friday, 6:30 p.m.
Dulaney at Parkville, Saturday, 2 p.m.
Gilman at No. 3 Mount Saint Joseph, Saturday, 3 p.m.