The Shamrocks improved to 5-3 (3-3) last Friday with a shutout win over St. Viator. Saint Patrick Athlete of the Week junior RB Eric Wozny, Jr rushed for 165 yards on 25 carries and scored two TD’s in the win.
“Wozny played really well and the defense obviously played well,” said Head Coach Adam Guerra. “I thought we were pressing a little on offense and trying to make too much happen instead of letting the game come to us so we’re going to emphasize that this week.”
For the first time since 2013, Saint Patrick could qualify for the playoffs with a win against the Corsairs on Friday night. And the team is taking Carmel very seriously. Not only have the players watched film on their own, they’ve studied last week’s game against Notre Dame closely as a team. “Notre Dame is good,” Guerra said. “The fact that Carmel played them so tough, we have to pay attention to that.”
Guerra likes Carmel’s offense. He compares it to St. Pat’s. “They have multiple formations like ours and their QB has a lot of responsibility at the line of scrimmage,” he said. “They have a left tackle who’s really good. #74 is probably the best linemen in the conference. I’m very impressed with him.”
According to senior QB Jack O’Rourke, Carmel’s 3-5 record doesn’t show how good they really are. “Carmel has a lot of good athletes but we need to win this game to make it into the playoffs,” O’Rourke said. “We don’t want to leave it up to chance. Making the playoffs would mean a lot to the program. It would get us back on track and hopefully make us a winning program for years to come.”
“We’ve completely changed the culture around here,” senior linemen Jake Briskey said. “We went from a mediocre team to a winning team. We do things the right way all the time and that’s what helps us.” Senior WR Michael Crawford added, “It’s been a long time coming since we made the playoffs. We’ve worked really hard. If we win on Friday, we’re going on. If we don’t, we may not make the playoffs so everyone should come support us!”
Kick-off is 7 pm at Baker Field (1 Carmel Parkway) on Friday night. Go Shamrocks!
