By STUART GROSKREUTZ
September 15, 2011

Stillwater and Cretin-Derham Hall have combined to make 41 state tournament appearances since 1975, making Friday's Suburban East Conference showdown at Pony Stadium a matchup between two of the state's strongest programs. The Raiders currently stand 44-3 in their six seasons in the SEC, but the record is a more modest 2-2 against Stillwater, which has upended them each of the past two years. The Raiders (2-0 SEC, 2-0) are ranked third in Class AAAAA by the Associated Press and join Stillwater (2-0, 2-0) as the only remaining unbeaten teams in the conference going into Week 3. Cretin-Derham Hall leads the all-time series 6-4, but the Ponies can take confidence from their recent success, including last year's memorable 31-28 triumph to spoil the Raiders' homecoming. Stillwater also recorded a 12-7 victory in 2009 to snap Cretin-Derham Hall's 30-game conference winning streak, although the Raiders bounced back to win the state title.

"They'll be ready to go," Ponies coach Beau LaBore said of the Raiders. "They'll have a chip on their shoulder."

The Raiders opened the season with a 27-6 victory over East Ridge and followed that up with a 21-9 win over Mounds View, the other team to join Cretin-Derham Hall and Stillwater as conference co-champions a year ago. The Ponies defeated Woodbury (27-20) and White Bear Lake (17-14) in tight games the past two weeks.

Every week is important when trying to chase down a third straight league title, but the players certainly recognize the importance of Friday's game while knowing the Raiders will not be taking a casual approach after the past two years. "Everybody in our conference is a worthy opponent, but I can tell you this is the best three days in a row (of practice) that we've had," LaBore said. "The guys are picking things up nicely and there has been a little more sense of urgency and focus out of all our players."

Cretin-Derham Hall has long been known for its prolific offense and scoring totals, but the Raiders currently rank last in the conference at 179.0 yards per game - although they have been opportunistic while scoring an average of 24.0 points per game. The defense and special teams have made the difference, with the defense allowing just 182.5 yards per contest. The Raiders have committed a league-high 16 penalties for 156 yards and have gained nearly half as many first downs as Stillwater (20 to 39). The Raiders are also the only team in the conference that has yet to commit a turnover and they join the Ponies with a plus-3 turnover rating.

"They have an offense that's moving a little bit slower right now, but we fully expect they will be very explosive and able to score on any play, running or passing," Ponies coach Beau LaBore said. "Their defense looks as good as any recent year. They are very fast and very physical."

Defensive tackle Jonathan Harden is one of the state's top recruits and he anchors a unit that is allowing just 1.6 yards per rushing attempt.

On offense, the Raiders are guided by quarterback Kevin Miley, who is off to a slow start this season but completed 75 percent of his passes with 18 touchdowns and just one interception a year ago. Cretin-Derham Hall's top receiving threat, and an exceptional basketball player, suffered a knee injury that will cause him to miss the entire season. Running backs Kendrick Brewster and James Onwualu lead the ground game. Onwualu leads the Raiders with nine catches for 104 yards and one touchdown. Returner Cortez Tillman has averaged 17 yards on six punt returns and carries a 29.7-yard average on kickoffs.

"They're not piling up yardage like they're accustomed to, but they still have guys who can go the distance any time they touch the ball," LaBore said.

Quarterback Nate Ricci made several big plays at receiver in last year's victory over the Raiders, but he will be lining up behind center this year. The junior has completed 17 of 26 passes for 190 yards and four touchdowns and zero interceptions. Charlie Register leads the Ponies with seven catches for 99 yards (14.1 avg.) and two touchdowns. Stillwater's balanced ground attack includes Nick Anderson with 35 rushes for 167 yards (4.8 avg.) and Ricci with 31 attempts for 150 yards (4.8 avg.). Zach Krenz has chipped in with 16 carries for 134 yards (8.4 avg.).

Stillwater ranks second in the conference on offense while gaining 345 yards per game and sits fourth on defense while giving up 219.5 yards per contest.

"The Woodbury defense played well and the White Bear Lake defense played even better and this is going to be as big of a challenge as we're going to see through the regular season and through the playoffs as far as the quality of the defense," LaBore said. "It's going to be a great challenge for our offense to see if we can continue to establish the line of scrimmage and move the ball and put points on the board."