Tuesday, Oct. 07, 2008

Red Bud, Mater Dei to square off tonight

For one night, Red Bud will be the center of the metro-east football universe.

Red Bud and Mater Dei worked together to solve a scheduling dilemma and the solution was playing a game at 7 p.m. today.

It's the "Tuesday Night Lights" and it gives area coaches, fans, players --and teams scouting Mater Dei for the Class 4A playoffs --another reason to hit the road for a game.

"It was kind of a chance thing really," said Mater Dei coach Ray Kauling, whose 5-0 team is ranked third in the Class 4A state poll and tied for first with Columbia in the News-Democrat Small-School rankings. "We knew we didn't have a game for Week 6 and Red Bud didn't have a game for Week 7. I got the idea because I'd seen teams play before on Tuesday or Wednesday and just called down there.

"We talked about it for a week or two and finally they called back and said 'If we play here, we'll play it.' It all worked out."

Kauling wasn't sure the atmosphere will be the same as a Friday night game, but he's happy to be playing.

"I don't know if it will be the same, but I think it's going to be a good atmosphere because we're the only show around," Kauling said.

Red Bud coach Dave Lucht was in the emergency room at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Belleville on Monday, trying to find the cause of a persistent illness.

"They're trying to figure out what it is exactly," Lucht said. "There's some kind of infection going on somewhere. I think I'll be there (Tuesday)."

The Musketeers (2-4) will be playing their second game in five days. They lost a 34-24 Cahokia Conference game to Central on Friday.

Lucht's squad has a chance to pull a big upset against heavily favored Mater Dei, but he knows it won't be easy.

"I don't know what kind of crowd we'll end up with, but there's a lot of 4A schools that will be making the trip to Red Bud to see what they could possibly be facing in the playoffs," Lucht said.

Mater Dei's road trip could have been a lot further.

"We were talking to a team from Wisconsin -- and they weren't real sold on us coming up, either," Kauling said. "We ended up taking the game with Red Bud."

Mater Dei boasts one of the area's most prolific passing attacks led by quarterback Justin Vonder Haar (1,030 yards, 14 touchdowns) and senior receiver Aaron Fuehne (23 catches, 427 yards, 11 TDs).

Vonder Haar (353 yards, eight TDs) and Lucas Hemann (502 yards, six TDs) anchor Mater Dei's running game.

The Knights' lowest scoring output came in a 36-8 win over Central. Their closest game was a 50-42 victory over Freeburg on Sept. 19.

"We knew we needed to work on our defense coming into the year," Kauling said. "People kind of exploited that early on a few times and we played better last week against Central, so hopefully we can keep that going."

Lucht said tight losses to Wesclin (7-0) and Dupo (14-13) hurt the Musketeers chances at back-to-back playoff appearances.

"We haven't put together three quarters all year long," Lucht said. "That's been our problem. The kids have been working hard and we show moments, but it's just not enough."

Sophomore Jake Hoffman has followed older brother Bobby Hoffman at the Red Bud quarterback position. The younger Hoffman is 34-for-76 for 554 yards and four TDs with two interceptions.

Hoffman is also Red Bud's leading rusher with only 163 yards. Seniors Tim Conway (61 tackles) and Matt Mehring (50 tackles, three sacks) are the top defensive players, while Conway is also the top receiver with 15 catches for 301 yards and two TDs.

Contact reporter Norm Sanders at nsanders@bnd.com or 239-2454.