St. Albert and Glenwood will face off tonight with both teams looking for its first win of the young prep football season in a 7:30 p.m. game at Glenwood.

While there are no playoff implications with this week's game, both teams would like to avoid falling to 0-2, which happened to the Falcons last season.

"We talked about what happened last year, so there's a little sense of urgency this week," St. Albert coach Jim Duggan said. "Winning does a lot of things for you."

The Rams, who are coming off a 35-0 loss to Kuemper Catholic Aug. 25, should be well rested as they've had two weeks to prepare for the Falcons.

"They're a big, typical Class 3A District 8 team," Duggan said. "We're telling the kids they play in the toughest 3A district in the state.

"They're big, they're physical, and they just have a lot more size than we do."

The Falcons had plenty of positives against L.C. The defense held L.C. to 67 yards rushing while the Falcons rushed for 122, including an 18-yard touchdown run by Jeremy Schieffer.

The Falcon special teams were one of the brightest spots for the Falcons. The play of the special teams included a fumble recovery in the end zone by Tony Knotek on the coverage of a first quarter punt helped St. Albert take an 8-0 lead.

"The bright spot for us was special teams," Duggan said. "We were pretty consistent on special teams, but we just need to get better in all phases."

On the other hand Glenwood didn't have many positives after the opening-game loss to Kuemper as they struggled against the veer option that the Knights' ran. Offensively the Rams also struggled. The team had negative yards in the third quarter and just one first down in the second half.

Running back Justin Black paced the Glenwood offense with 44 yards.

Duggan warned the Rams are much better than the opening-game performance shows.

"They just got caught off guard in that Week Zero game," Duggan said.

For both teams, improvement seems to be the key.

"We just have to get our kids focused and put that (first) one behind you," Duggan said. "We just have to get better. The Lewis Central game, we made a lot of little silly mistakes."

Quick Hits

Who: St. Albert (0-1) vs. Glenwood (0-1).

Where: Glenwood High School Field.

When: Tonight at 7:30 p.m.

On the Web: www.stalbertsportsfan.com; www.glenwoodsports.com.

What to watch for: Both football teams will be looking for their first win of the season.

St. Albert is coming off a tough 22-15 decision at the hands of Class 3A Lewis Central, while Glenwood has had two weeks to prepare since its 35-0 loss to Kuemper Catholic on Aug. 25.

The Falcons had plenty of positives in its opening game, particularly on special teams.

Meanwhile Glenwood is looking for a big turn-around from its opening-night loss. The Rams will have a size advantage in the contest and Justin Black provides Glenwood with a tough running game.

~Jeff Deluca~ Daily Nonpareil Staff Writer 09.07.06