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C-DH has new marquee players
Sports Editor Joe Mauer.
Matt Birk.
Steve Walsh.
Chris Weinke.
Michael Floyd.
They're just a few of the premier athletes who have strapped on pads and helmets through the years for Cretin-Derham Hall, which plays the Brainerd Warriors in the semifinals of the Class 5A state tournament Friday night at the Metrodome.
The Raiders (10-1), who tied for fourth place in the final 5A rankings, have at least three current players who may go on to become household names.
Left tackle Seantrel Henderson (6-7, 335) is rated the country's top college recruit. He has helped the Raiders average 29.2 points and 340.4 yards a game.
"He is what he's purported to be, but I don't know that I can call him the best recruit in the country," Raiders coach Mike Scanlan said. "But this kid is an individual who's, I don't way to say once in a lifetime, but he's real special. He's a kid who will walk into a big-time program and, if not immediately, eventually become their left tackle. That's, I think, where people put their best offensive lineman."
The left guard is Shea Walker (6-2, 292), whom Scanlan believes might be as skilled as Henderson.
"What's being held against him is he's not 6-5," Scanlan said. "He's kind of a normal 6-2 and I don't know how you can be 6-2, 295, and be normal. That's why, in my mind, he's not getting attention from big schools as I think he should be. He's good. He might move better than Seantrel in space, pulling."
Quarterback Mark Alt, who missed three games due to a cracked collarbone suffered while playing hockey, has returned. In seven games he has completed 78 of 128 passes (60.9 percent) for 1,297 yards and 19 touchdowns.
"Every week he gets better," Scanlan said. "He's still a little sore. He was back out there (Monday) throwing and running around pretty good.
"The Gophers have had an offer on the table for hockey since the end of his sophomore year. No big-time football opportunity has presented itself, but that's the hard part. I don't know what he would do if he had to choose one or the other."
The Raiders suffered their only loss (12-7 to Stillwater) when Alt was injured. They have won their last five games.
Leading rushers are Cameron Clarkson and Kendrick Brewster. Clarkson has 761 yards and three TDs, Brewster 676 and nine. Tommy Crosby is the top receiver with 559 yards and seven scores. Elliot Owusu has 21 catches for 510 yards and eight TDs.
"We had maybe a 3-game stretch where we had to do more running than we normally do because Alt went down," Scanlan said. "We usually like to the throw ball about 25 times a game.
"(Henderson and Walker) carried us when Alt was on the shelf. We made a living running the ball. Everyone knew where we were going to run and we still had success. Shea is like in the shadow of Seantrel, figuratively speaking, but he can stand on his own. In other years he would be our best offensive lineman."
Defense is the aspect of the Raiders' game that gets overlooked. C-DH has given up just 9.6 points a game.
"It's kind of the proverbial team effort," Scanlan said. "Our linebackers have been pretty strong. Kevin Hanson, Willie Roller and James McGuire are three guys if I had to point to I would. Jonathan Harden plays a lot of noseguard, and we slide Shea and Seantrel (on defense) too."
Scanlan is well aware the Raiders beat Brainerd 56-14 in the 2007 state semifinals but he said that win won't make C-DH overconfident.
"I don't know that you can overlook anyone at this time of the year," he said. "Neither of us is Eden Prairie. Brainerd is here for a reason, they've had a good season. Ron (Stolski) gets his kids ready to play.
"There's bound to be a few players who remember the number of points we hung on them, but it's not like we just show up and we're in the (state championship) game. We know Ron always brings a physical team. They like to run, we like to throw. It's a little different philosophy but the games we've seen on film they've been pretty impressive."
MIKE BIALKA may be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5861.
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