IT’S TIME FOR THE FISH BOWL

Marist-St. Pius X clash in battle of private heavyweights

By Josh Bagriansky

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When the Marist War Eagles and St. Pius X Golden Lions play in any sport, you can expect an all-out war. That will be no different when the two archrivals meet this Friday in the teams’ respective season openers. Unlike seasons past, this is not a region matchup (St. Pius drops down to Class 3A after reclassification, while Marist chose to continue to play up in 4A), but bragging rights are still on the line for two squads that are not too fond of each other.

The War Eagles got the better of St. Pius last season, 21-7. But the rest of the year was a bit of a disappointment by Marist’s standards, as they were defeated in the first round of the Class 4A Playoffs. Now they open up 2008 with a team low on experience and high on questions, so playing Pius in the first game of the season presents quite a challenge for head coach Alan Chadwick’s team.

If the War Eagles come out with the win, it should be largely due to the strength of the men in the trenches. Six starters are back on the front seven, including defensive linemen Spencer Mitchell, Phillip Wood and Jeff Ducote. Joe Pfeffer anchors an offensive line that will be crucial to the team’s success, as Marist lost virtually every contributor from the backfield after last season.

Meanwhile, Pius is desperately trying to find a way to beat their archrivals. Last year’s senior class didn’t once taste victory over Chadwick’s squad during its four years, and St. Pius has lost to Marist an astounding 25 out of the last 26 years. If Pius is finally going to get over the hump against their bitter rival, this would be the perfect time. Dylan Knight is gone from under center, but everyone is raving about new starter P.G. Standard, a senior and the son of head coach Paul Standard, who looked strong in last week’s 28-21 exhibition win over Gainesville. J.C. Carter and Cole Moon both return at running back to help bolster the offense. The first-team defense looked strong against the Red Elephants last week, so they’ll be looking to get into the Marist backfield early and often.

The Golden Lions also have home-field advantage to look forward to, and a raucous crowd could cause problems for the young Marist team.

This won’t be the star-studded showdown from last season, and the offenses are works in progress with both teams breaking in new quarterbacks. But any time that Marist and St. Pius get together with the Fish Bowl Trophy on the line, it’s a game worth watching. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at George B. Maloof Stadium on the St. Pius X campus.

Score’s Bagriansky, who can be reached at jbagriansky@scoreatl.com. Check out the new Scoreatl.com for live high-school football score updates on Friday nights.