Football: St. Mary's Faces Tough Test Tonight at Kezar Stadium

The game: St. Mary's at Sacred Heart Cathedral

Where: Kezar Stadium, San Francisco

When: Sept. 17, 7 p.m.

Records: St. Mary's (0-1), Sacred Heart (2-0)

The key to the game: St. Mary's can air the ball out, but its running game, in its season-opening loss to Christian Brothers-Sacramento, was non-existent. It's a flaw that will, if not corrected, be lethal to the Panthers' chances to upset the talented Irish on their home field.

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"You can't go home again" is an old adage that St. Mary's College High School football coach Keith Minor is hoping isn't true.

Tonight, Minor will lead his Panthers (0-1) across the Bay Bridge to Kezar Stadium to face off against Sacred Heart Cathedral (2-0) at 7 p.m.

"It is kind of a homecoming for me," said Minor, who used to coach in the city at Balboa High. "You always want to play well at a place as historic as Kezar too."

In the Panthers' tough season-opening 36-28 loss two weeks ago to Christian Brothers, Minor saw his passing attack move the ball well. Panthers' quarterback Francisco Torres piled up 287 yards passing and threw for four touchdowns.

But the ground game only generated 57 yards on 26 carries, and that simply will not do against the Irish tonight.

"Hopefully we can run the ball better," Minor said. "We need to move the ball better than we did last week."

It is a challenge that Minor admits will be hard for his team, considering its opponent this week.

"Sacred Heart is a great football team," Minor said. "They are very fast and very physical. Their coaches have a very solid approach."

That approach has resulted in two impressive road wins so far this season, over Terra Nova and Justin-Siena, and the Irish figure to be even tougher to beat in their home opener. So, is it really a lost cause even before the opening kickoff?

"In high school football you can never tell," Minor said. "They are going to be hard to stop. We just have to contain them as best we can and make a play for the win at the end."

While the Panthers must get better production from their running game they will still need Torres and the passing attack to step up as well. And it is the receivers in the passing game who could hold the key to a possible upset victory on the road for St. Mary's.

Chris Carnegie, who hauled in seven passes for 109 yards against Christian Brothers, will be Torres' prime target against Sacred Heart tonight. With Caleb Coleman and David Thomas also roaming the Irish defensive backfield, Minor figures his team will put points on the board.

"They are a tough matchup for any defense," Minor said of his receiving corps.

All in all, Minor will travel "home" with his team, and said he likes his chances of making it a happy homecoming.

"We've been working hard," Minor said. "We just have to go out and play well."

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