Chi-Hi crossing state line to face athletic Robbinsdale Armstrong
 No comments posted.
By DAVID BOSSICK
david.bossick@lee.net
Thursday, September 4, 2008 1:30 AM CDT
Robbinsdale Armstrong was short on wins last season, going 1-8.
The Falcons are short on experience this season, with just five returning starters.
But Armstrong is not short on talent.
Chippewa Falls will head across the state line and the Mississippi River to take on another foe from arguably Minnesota’s toughest conference, the Classic Lake, to face Armstrong for a 7 p.m. Friday kickoff.
In listening to Chi-Hi coach Chuck Raykovich, the Falcons’ pieces that are on the team are as lethal as any team the Cardinals will face this year.
“They’re a team out of the Twin Cities. They’re a big school, they’ve got good athletes and they play in a darn good league,” he said.
What’s more is the Cardinals will be getting in-the-game training in regards to getting the right match-ups against Armstrong.
“What’s an interesting scenario is we only have one film on them from when they played last week,” Raykovich said, referring to a 30-12 loss to Rochester John Marshall. “So, we don’t know a lot about them. And they probably know less about us.”
The lack of familiarity for the schools going into the match-up is something Raykovich is looking forward to as well.
“The good thing is that it’s non-conference. The good thing is that it tests the coaches and the players ability to adjust and adapt on the run,” he said. “The bad part? I don’t see any downside to this.”
Last week against John Marshall, Falcons sophomore tailback Prince Kanu was limited to 51 yards on 18 carries, including only three yards in the first half.
The Armstrong offense, last week, was led by two huge tight ends: 6-foot-7 Ted Vogt and 6-foot-3 Joe Lewis. Vogt had four grabs for 48 yards and Lewis had two catches for 66 yards.
“It looks like they have some awfully fine athletes,” Raykovich said. “And, can we stop them? Can we play with them? That’s the question.”
Of the 187 total yards against John Marshall, Armstrong had 148 yards through the air.
Raykovich said he believed Armstrong was similar to his team in that both teams are young.
“Their coaches think they’re not real big, but looking at them on film, they look as big as anyone we play.
“They’re going to have a gear we’re not used to right away. How quickly we can adjust to their speed is how well we play against them. If we don’t adjust quick, we’re going to be a in world of hurt quick.”
This marks the fourth consecutive year Chi-Hi has played a school from the league. The Cardinals went 1-2 against Edina the previous three seasons.
“Chances are, when you schedule a tough team, it will make you better,” he said. “We’ve had instances in the past where we’ve scheduled over our head in down years and it hurt us.
“That’s not the case here. It’s good competition for us. And the thing I like about it is that extra gear their skilled athletes have,” Raykovich said.
The Cardinals come into Friday’s game hoping to stem some of the cramping issues that came about last Friday in the 21-0 win against Holmen.
“It’s a concern, but as the season progresses and the temperature comes down, that will become less and less of a problem,” he said. “We still have to deal with it and we still have to address it.
“We don’t want to let it happen again.”
Raykovich said the team is healthy going into the contest as well.
|
Archives