#CFC50 game of the week (MB): No. 9 St.Paul’s Crusaders host Oak Park in the ‘Laping Bowl’

On Friday night the last regular season matchup of the WHSFL season will be a rivalry between the Oak Park Raiders and #CFC50 No. 9 St.Paul’s Crusaders.

This game has been named the ‘Laping Bowl’, after Nick Laping. Nick Laping graduated from St.Paul’s in 1961. Laping was the offensive coordinator in the Raiders first season in the MHSFL, and was also a player and coach for the Crusaders. Nick was a supporter of both football programs until his passing in February of 2009 of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

St.Paul’s heads into this contest as the only unbeaten team in the Potter division at 6-0, the Oak Park Raiders sit at 4-2 and are tied with three other teams for third. Last week St.Paul’s walked through Garden City 62-0, and when the Raiders needed a big win they got it against Sisler 33-15.

The 2016 season has gone well for the Raiders but they’ve had some challenges dealing with some injuries. Starting quarterback Charlie Ringland went down against the Vincent Massey Trojans with a lower body injury for the year. Raiders Stuart Nixon commented, “Since Charlie’s injury we have basically utilized a two QB system which allows us to take advantage of the strengths of both back fields.”

One of the players that Oak Park will use at quarterback is the talented Shak Harris. Harris is second in the WHSFL’s Potter Division in points scored with 8 touchdowns.

For the Raiders to have success against St.Paul’s they will have to stop the run. “We must stop the run, replied Nixon, “We’ve really struggled with that this year.” Oak Park’s offensive line must continue to improve this week as well.

At 6-0, St.Paul’s is poised for another championship run. This season the Crusaders have outscored their opponents 253-33. Quarterback Riley Naujoks is third in WHSFL’s Potter Division in passing with 933 yards and 7 touchdowns.

Throughout the season St.Paul’s has had a few injuries that affected their depth at various positions. One of the biggest losses to the team could be leading receiver Bryce Stubbings. Coach Dainard referred to the loss as, “A big loss to deal with.”

Leading into this matchup, the Crusaders are preparing for a physical game. Oak Park has been known to have some big guys on their defensive line. Dainard explained, “Coach Nixon and his staff always have strong and aggressive linemen and this year is no different as they are lead along the line of scrimmage by Cole Adamson.”

“Additionally, they have dynamic play-makers like Shakur Harris and Ben Boyko so we are going to have be effective in all 3 phases of the game to be successful,” concluded Dainard.

We at CFC predict that St.Paul’s will win this one over Oak Park by a good margin. Kickoff is at 5:30 at St.Paul’s high school.

 

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