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GAME OF THE WEEK: Santa Fe Catholic at Berean Christian

By Roy Fuoco, The Ledger, 11/06/15, 10:15AM EST

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Balanced Santa Fe faces pass-happy Berean Christian in SSAC semis

LAKELAND — Santa Fe Catholic doesn't have to do much guessing in trying to decide what Berean Christian will do on offense. The Bulldogs will pass, pass some more and when they're done, they'll pass again.

The two teams meet tonight at 7 in the Sunshine State Athletic Conference semifinals at Wellington High School, and they're a picture of two different types of teams on offense.

Berean Christian, for example, throws 74 percent of the time with 87 percent of its offensive yards coming through the air. Santa Fe, by contrast, runs 71 percent of the time but its yardage is nearly 50-50, 54 percent on the ground and 46 percent through the air. The result is nearly the same amount of yards of total offense. Berean Christian averages 308.4 yards of total offense, while Santa Fe Catholic averages 315.5 yards.

"They're definitely a wide-open passing team," Santa Fe Catholic coach Billy Dickerson said. "That's definitely their strength. Their quarterback is the real deal."

The first line of defense needed to slow Berean Christian's passing attack will be Santa Fe's defensive line. The Crimson Hawks will be looking to pressure quarterback Chris Mauck, who has completed 153 of 255 passes for 2,091 yards and 17 touchdowns.

As a team, the Crimson Hawks (9-0) have 37 sacks with John Littlejohn leading the way with 12 and JJ Stone next with eight.

"Our goal is to get him off his mark," Dickerson said. "He's a pocket quarterback, and we want to move him. We think everything revolves around getting pressure on him."

Alex Guitterez also has been a force on the defensive line, which has be reinforced the past three games by the return of defensive tackle Jonathan Lopez.

"He (Lopez) has really hit his stride, so we're looking for big things out of him tomorrow night," Dickerson said.

Dickerson is confident in his secondary with players like Walker Richards, Henry Perry IV, Tyree Rodman and Kennard King. With Berean Christian's offense being predicated on short passes and timing routs, it's important for the defense to upset the timing.

"If we're going to press those receivers, then we better have some good pass rush because we can't let them run around there forever," Dickerson said. "That press coverage is only going to last so long."

The players Dickerson is relying on defense to slow down the Bulldogs are the same ones he'll be relying on offense as all the top players play both offense and defense. Dickerson downplays the significance of that, noting that these players have done this all year. He did acknowledge, however, that with the number of blowouts Santa Fe has had — six games decided by 35 or more points — they haven't had to play "four knock-down quarters" often.

Santa Fe will try to slow Berean Christian's passing game even before the defense takes the field. Although Santa Fe has a productive passing game with Richards throwing for 1,057 yards and 15 touchdowns, the Crimson Hawks will look to control the clock with their running game. Four players have rushed for more than 100 yards with Demario Vanover leading the way with 658 yards rushing and Rodman second with 337 yards.

"The easiest way to stop that quarterback is to have him on the sidelines drinking water," Dickerson said. "So if we can get some long, sustained drives and keep him off the field, that's a big deal."

The winner of Friday's game will play for the title on Nov. 14.