Game of the Week Preview: St. Joseph Regional vs. St. Peter's Prep

No. 5 St. Joseph Regional at St. Peter's Prep
Location: Caven Point Field
Kickoff time: Friday, 7 p.m. ET
Live scoring: Via Qwixcore

Read Steve Helwagen's feature on St. Peter's Prep for 247Sports

Everyone in Bergen County is eagerly anticipating next weekend's St. Joseph Regional-Paramus Catholic showdown of nationally-ranked teams.

Everyone, that is, except St. Joseph Regional (Montvale, N.J.) head coach Tony Karcich.

That's because St. Joseph has a huge hurdle that is more urgent: a Friday night road game against unbeaten St. Peter's Prep (Jersey City, N.J.).

"We better mentally have that edge," Karcich told MaxPreps on Thursday. "If we don't have that edge, they'll put it to us. They (the players) need to understand this is a very good football team."

St. Joseph Regional (4-0) has already seen several good football teams and made short work of each of them. The Green Knights started the season with a 42-14 victory over DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) and recently dominated Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) 49-6.

Seasoned quarterback Spencer Aukamp has been a near-perfect field general for the Green Knights, throwing for 602 yards and six touchdowns without being intercepted.

Sherman Alston, a lightning-quick, 5-foot-7 senior running back, has provided most of the offensive spark, rushing for eight scores. Quai Jefferson and Ronald Edwards have combined for nearly 400 receiving yards.

As dynamic as the offense is, up until now the St. Joseph defense has been the story of the season. The unit, led by linebacker Mark Fossati and a physical defensive line, has allowed a paltry 33 points.

St. Joseph's team-centric style of defense could be tested by the St. Peter's Prep zone-option offense that will look to isolate the team's athletes against defenders.

Quarterback Brandon Wimbush lines up behind center for the Marauders. He is joined in the backfield by bruising running back Jonathan Hilliman, the state's second-leading rusher.

Minkah Fitzpatrick and Corey Caddle, both oozing speed and athleticism, provide a good change of pace from Hilliman.

"They're athletic at the skill positions and it fits their offense. We haven't seen it yet," Karcich said. "This is a match up that is not to our advantage."

St. Peter's Prep (6-0) head coach Rich Hansen knows his "core four" will be key if his squad is to upset the No. 5-ranked team in the Xcellent 25.

So far, the formula has worked, as Wimbush, Hilliman, Fitzpatrick and Caddle have all played very well.

The offense has looked very good at times in victories against Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.), Eastern Christian Academy (Elkton, Md.) and Bergen Catholic.

"If we're playing with rhythm, we can put up points," Hansen said. "The core four have to get their hands on the ball. They have to leave their fingerprint on the game."

While St. Joseph's defense has been extremely stingy this year, of primary concern to Hansen is the Green Knights offense, which relies on a physical ground game and timely play-action passes.

That recipe has allowed St. Joseph to average a whopping 43 points per game.

"We have to stop them from running the ball," Hansen said. "That really is key. Their pass game is more sell-able when they are running the ball. That's Joe's deal. That's what they do. That's what they are."

St. Joseph has gotten the best of St. Peter's Prep in four of the teams' last five meetings, including the last three. The teams began playing annually in 2008 after a long hiatus.

The most famous matchup between the two came in 1989 in the Parochial A title game. St. Joseph led 21-7 at half, and Karcich believed his squad was well on its way to victory.

A wild comeback and a gutsy two-point conversion gave St. Peter's Prep a 22-21 win and the school's first title under Hansen.

Since that game, Karcich has gone on to become a 300-game winner and Hansen has topped the 200-win mark. Nearly 25 years later, there's no shortage of excitement for Friday night's showdown.

"This is what coaching is about. It's what playing is about," Hansen said.