The Falcons are eyeing a Week 11 home game and will close the regular season on the road against Carroll on Friday night.
WEEK 10 FOOTBALL COVERAGE
» Plenty at stake in annual Edgewood-Mt. Healthy clash
» Fairfield seeking reversal of fortune against Mason
» Playoff hopefuls East, Sycamore want to extend season
» Badin keeping focus on McNick with playoffs close by
» Waynesville on the rise as Madison eyes 10-0 season
» MVC Gray title, D-VII playoffs in New Miami’s sights
» Madison, Fenwick maintain spots in AP state poll
» Five local matchups to keep an eye on Friday night
“I think the players definitely have that swagger,” said Fenwick coach Dan Haverkamp, whose squad has dispatched McNicholas, Chaminade Julienne, Purcell Marian and Roger Bacon the last four weeks. “At this time of the year, I think it’s really important that the players enjoy what they’re doing and want to keep the season going longer.
“We’ve been having some fun in practice. They seem a little goofy at times, but I think it’s in a good way. It’s kind of been that way to an extent all year. We want to keep having fun.”
These seniors were freshmen the last time the Falcons made it to the playoffs in 2015. Fenwick went 13-1 and made it to the Division IV state semifinals before losing to Columbus Hartley.
“We’ve always looked up to them and try to have that same mentality,” senior quarterback Sully Janeck said. “We’ve kind of modeled what they did because they had such a successful season. They were fantastic. They were good leaders. We try to do that for our younger kids too.”
The Falcons are 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the Greater Catholic League Coed North Division. They’ll get a share of the North title if they win and CJ defeats Alter on Friday.
As far as the playoffs, beating Carroll by itself won’t guarantee Fenwick a first-round home game, according to www.joeeitel.com. But a victory would make it very likely.
“Our focus this week is to bring it back home,” Haverkamp said. “It’s not every year that Fenwick gets to host a playoff game. I think it means a lot to the community and to the players, so that’s our point of emphasis.”
Carroll (6-3, 3-3) remains alive in the hunt for a Region 12 spot. The Patriots need to beat the Falcons and get a significant amount of help to qualify.
Regardless of how that turns out for Carroll, it’s been a major turnaround campaign after going 1-9 last year. The Patriots’ last playoff berth came in 2010 — that was also the program’s last winning season before 2018.
“The only thing you can concentrate on right now is yourself and hope the dominoes fall as best they can,” Carroll coach Ben Rulli said. “No matter what, it’s still exciting to be having these kind of conversations in Week 10 after where we were last year.”
The Patriots will have a lot of experience returning next season. They will honor their nine seniors during a Senior Night ceremony Friday.
“We were super young last year. We’re young again this year,” Rulli said. “It’s definitely a great foundation to build on and springboard into the offseason. Hopefully it lasts for another couple weeks, but if not, we’ve got a lot of kids returning next year, a lot of leaders.”
Carroll has a balanced offensive approach this year. Junior quarterback Trent Fox is 91-of-161 for 1,192 yards and 12 touchdowns, while senior Fred Butts (140 carries, 904 yards, 10 TDs) and junior Eli Haney (99 carries, 466 yards, two TDs) lead the ballcarriers.
Defensively, Rulli said everything starts with junior linebacker Jon LaJeunesse (6-1, 220).
“Fenwick is an outstanding team,” Rulli said. “I think we’re very similar in styles of play on both sides of the ball. Defensively, I think they have four of the top seven tacklers in the conference. That’s just a sign of veteran players who get the job done.”
The Patriots are on a two-game winning streak, having lost three straight before that. Included in that stretch of losing was a painful 24-21 loss to Badin that was capped by a last-second field goal.
“As devastating as the Badin game was, I think it was also an exact correlation to our program continuing to learn how to win,” said Rulli, in his fifth year at the Carroll helm. “After the last few years of laying the foundation and this year having very good success on the field, that game could’ve been a turning point. We were either going to grow up or we weren’t, and I think the boys responded. They’ve picked themselves up and had a great couple weeks.”
The Falcons roared to a 30-0 lead in the first half last week at Roger Bacon and won easily 37-7. Haverkamp said his players “really came out with an edge. They wanted to set the tone early in that game.” He also felt it was team’s best special-teams performance of the season.
Davis ran four times for 23 yards and a touchdown in his first action of the season, and he added two tackles as a safety. Berning has also returned in the defensive backfield as a cornerback.
“We tried to ease him in a little bit. He’ll play more snaps this week,” Haverkamp said of Davis, who was projected as a starting running back and outside linebacker in the preseason. “He’s an athlete. We can put him wherever he seems to be the best fit depending on the opponent.”
Fenwick is averaging 385.7 yards and 32.2 points per game. Senior Jack Fessler has 1,527 yards and 21 touchdowns on 176 carries, and Janeck has converted 96-of-174 passes for 1,484 yards and 13 TDs.
The Falcons have flourished in Haverkamp’s spread-to-run offense. They’ve got quality skill guys and the ability to do a little bit of everything.
Janeck said he’s had a different offensive system every year he’s been at Fenwick.
“We ran the Wing-T as a freshman, then the triple option as a sophomore,” Janeck said. “We ran the pistol the first half of last year, and then kind of a split-back, under-center deal the second half of the year.
“Now we’ve got a spread-and-run thing this year. It’s been kind of cool getting settled down into one offense. There’s a great balance, and it puts us all in positions to succeed. Teams can’t load the box or we’ll throw over the top, and if teams spread us out, Jack will just run right through them.”
Friday’s game
What: Fenwick (7-2, 5-1 GCLC North) at Carroll (6-3, 3-3 GCLC North), 7 p.m.
Where: Patriot Stadium, 4524 Linden Ave., Riverside
Series: Carroll leads 18-13, but Fenwick has won the last seven meetings, including 13-7 in 2017
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