Benet preview: Part of the solution

Benet wide receivers, from left, Mike Cunningham, Marty Flavin and Neil Ostrander should benefit from the Redwings' emphasis on the passing game this season.
Jonathan Miano / Staff photographer

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When presenting the team's offensive practice player of the year award for the 2007 season, Benet coach Gary Goforth laced his comments about Neil Ostrander with motivational barbs, labeling him "an enigma."

Goforth wrote that, "going into the summer and into the fall season we thought Neil would step in and challenge for the best receiver on the team. We still don't know why this didn't happen."

Ostrander, who caught one pass as a junior, said Goforth's words had an impact.

"It kind of motivated me and like made me realize that I kind of took for granted, you know, that I was going to play last year," Ostrander said. "I didn't realize until then that maybe it was too late. It motivated me to try a lot harder and put more effort in. I think I've gotten a lot better because of that."

The go-to receiver the coaches thought Ostrander could have been was instead Emmett Carrier, who turned in an all-conference season and was the team's MVP. Carrier had 26 of the team's 79 receptions and was third in the area with 478 yards - an average of 18.4 yards per catch.

With Carrier now the best memory of a tough 3-6 season, the Redwings will look to Ostrander and fellow seniors Marty Flavin and Mike Cunningham to make the big plays. Goforth said his team will open up the attack with elements of the spread offense, passing more than in years past, so there will be plenty of opportunities for this trio to make its mark.

"They've all got decent height," Goforth said. "They're all kind of wiry in some respects. They all use their body pretty well. They've all got good hands."

As with any offense, how nice things will be starts with the offensive line. Quarterback Jimmy Riley won't be able to improve on his 39.5 completion percentage from last year or his touchdown (six) to interception deficit (10) if he's spending his Friday nights running for his life.

But the big plays, if they are to come, will be thanks to the receivers doing their best to replace the team MVP in a new system. Entering his first season on the varsity level, Cunningham is confident the Redwings can move the ball through the air.

"I think it's going to work out real good because it's more of a run-and-gun offense as opposed to what we've had in the past," he said. "I think we'll be able to put up a lot of points this year."

Their relative anonymity could be an advantage. While Ostrander had just one catch for 11 yards last year, that's still one more reception and 11 more yards than Flavin.

Teams won't have much in the way of a scouting report on the players or the new wrinkles in the offense.

"Defenses aren't going to be able to pick out one person to double-team or something like that," Cunningham said. "So that will put us all on an even playing field and I think we'll be able to take advantage of that."

Last season Benet ran the ball 275 times (averaging 2.35 yards a crack) and threw the ball 195 times. Although the Redwings certainly won't abandon the running game, those numbers probably will be inverted in 2008.

Not surprisingly, the receivers are excited about getting air under the pigskin more often.

"I just think it's a little more fun," Flavin said. "I don't know. I can just tell people are optimistic in the huddle. We're definitely more of an optimistic team this year just because we feel our offense is really moving this year."

Of the three, Goforth labeled Cunningham as the best route runner and he lauded Flavin for his versatility. Flavin could line up at split end, flanker or tight end.

That leaves Ostrander, the enigma, as the most dynamic performer. He is expected to beat the one-one-one coverage more often. He is expected to live up to the potential the coaches saw last year.

"Ostrander can break a game open," Goforth said.

New faces. New offense. Will it make a difference in the East Suburban Catholic Conference? The Redwings will face five teams that won eight or more games a year ago.

"People probably don't expect a lot of us this year," Flavin said. "And I think we want to surprise people and show them that we can be the team to beat, you know, that we can take what we've learned in the offseason and use all the strength and speed we have and use it to our advantage. I know we'll end up going far if we can do that."