Saturday’s game
What: Fenwick (3-0) vs. Badin (3-0)
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Monroe Fighting Hornet Field, 220 Yankee Road, Monroe
Last meeting: Fenwick won 28-20 in 2012
Maybe the game is a little bigger this year.
Badin vs. Fenwick is always significant. The prep parochial football rivals have tradition. They play in the Greater Catholic League. A lot of families are connected to both schools.
On Saturday night at Monroe, the Rams and Falcons will begin GCL play and square off for the 20th time in a series that started in 1954.
But this matchup will be different: Both teams are 3-0, and this is the first time they’ll meet with a perfect record on each side.
“There’s a challenge there to see if our record is really what it seems, and the same with them,” Fenwick coach Joe Snively said. “Both teams want to find out exactly where they’re at.”
Snively is in his first season at the Falcon helm. Bill Tenore coached at Fenwick from 2002-05, but he’s now in his fifth year leading the Rams.
Fenwick is the bigger school, a magnet for growth near Interstate 75. Badin is slowly building its enrollment back up. That may mean something in the bigger picture, but it likely will mean little Saturday.
“I think Badin and Fenwick are both going to get the same type of kids,” Tenore said. “It’s two Catholic coed schools that are similar in just about everything. The only difference is their 50-acre campus.”
The Rams have a commanding 16-3 edge in the series. Yet the Falcons have won the last two meetings and made the Division IV playoffs last year.
Both teams think they’re going to win. That’s not smack talk. It’s a clash of mentalities.
“Badin’s pretty respectful to us, and we’re pretty respectful to them,” said Fenwick senior captain Mike Percy, a nose guard and fullback. “We feel confident, but there’s no easy games on our schedule. It’s the GCL, the best league in the nation.”
Tyler Williams, a senior linebacker, place-kicker and punter for the Rams, said the feeling on New London Road is that the losing streak against the Falcons must stop.
“It’s going to be a big challenge, but I think we can rise up,” Williams said. “We’ve got to expect to win. Anything less is unacceptable.”
Is Fenwick the biggest rival on Badin’s schedule? And vice versa? The answer generally varies. Both sides like to talk about their rivalry with Alter, especially the Falcons. They beat the Knights for the first time last season.
The Rams? They’ve taken 15 consecutive losses from Alter. Most were not close.
“Fenwick might be getting up there near the top for us,” Tenore said. “It’s a good local rivalry. I don’t think it’s a nasty rivalry like Badin-Fairfield was.
“I have fond memories of my time at Fenwick. It’s where I got my first win as a head coach. Had some success, went to the playoffs. Beat a good Steve Channell team at Edgewood to win the (Mid-Miami League). There’s good people in that community up there. I root for them all except for one week.”
Fenwick has arguably the best all-around player between these teams. Senior Frank Catrine can be a dynamic force in the offensive backfield. He’s a standout free safety. He’s a kick-returning demon and an excellent punter.
And there’s a pretty good chance he’ll be a spectator Saturday.
Catrine suffered a shoulder injury during last Friday’s game against Monroe. Snively won’t rule out the possibility that he might play, but he said Catrine’s status is “very doubtful.”
“We haven’t made a big deal out of it because I don’t want it to be a big deal,” Snively said. “We’re a team. We’re not Frank Catrine’s club. These kids have faced adversity before.
“We’ve preached all year that we run a system. We don’t feature someone, which frustrates some people quite honestly. Some people want to see one person get the ball all the time. Frank’s an impact player, but all of our backs are capable of running the system.”
Said Percy, “We’d love to have Frank, but if we lose him, it doesn’t mean our team just falls apart. Right now we’ve got to focus on beating Badin without him.”
Nick Fedders will get his second straight start at quarterback in Fenwick’s Wing-T offense. Badin’s Wing-T has sputtered at times this year, but Tenore believes his unit is on the verge of consistent success.
Defensively, both teams like to get after it at the line of scrimmage.
The kickers are very good, Connor Hamilton for Fenwick and Williams for Badin. The latter has hit 4 of 5 field goals this season and is tied with Tom Puma for the school’s career record (12) in that category.
“Sweet,” said Williams, who has 100 kicking points and is 17 away from the Rams’ all-time leader, Jason Goldberg. “I take kicking very seriously.”
Williams has come a long way since making his varsity debut in the 2010 playoffs. The freshman kicked an extra point against Coldwater and could’ve clinched the game with a late field goal after Tenore chose to kick rather than go for a first down on fourth-and-inches.
But Williams misfired from 27 yards away, the Cavaliers stormed down the field to tie the game in the final seconds of regulation, and the Rams lost in overtime.
“I was terrified back then,” Williams admitted. “I didn’t know what to do. I had never really kicked a field goal up until that game.
“I think about that all the time. It’s helped me become a better kicker because I don’t want that to happen again. I’m pretty confident now. Coach asked me if I could make a 41-yarder last week and I said, ‘I’ll go out there and do it.’ And I did.”
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