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LISLE -- St. Joseph never has won an East Suburban Catholic Conference game, and Benet would like to keep it that way.

The Redwings (0-2) and Chargers (2-0) meet for the first time in two years at 7:30 p.m. at Benedictine University in the ESCC conference opener for both teams, but the game has a different feel than past meetings.

St. Joseph has been one of the feel-good stories so far in the young high-school football season with the Chargers finally putting an end to their hideous 45-game losing streak with a 42-13 victory against Ridgewood in the season opener. They then backed it up with a 44-23 win against Argo last week.

"This isn't the same team we've seen in the past," Benet coach Gary Goforth said.

For a little perspective, the last time St. Joseph won a game before two weeks ago was in Week 9 of the 2002 season when the Chargers defeated the now-closed Springfield Ursuline Academy. At that time, St. Joseph was forced to participate as an independent because the ESCC ceased competition from 1996-2002 while Benet was a member of the Catholic Metropolitan Conference.

The ESCC reformed and rekindled competition in 2003, and it's been downhill for a Chargers program thirsty for its first conference win.

"When practice was over (Tuesday night) I told our guys to be proud of what you've accomplished thus far, but now the real test is if we can compete in this conference," St. Joseph coach Mark Zavagnin said.

The true test for St. Joseph will be dealing with Benet's depth. The Chargers will have up to seven players compete on both offense and defense, while the Redwings have plenty of fresh bodies to rotate in and out.

"Benet will dress close to 70 players and we will dress 31," Zavagnin said. "It is going to come down to conditioning and seeing how long we can stay close."

The Redwings showed growth during last week's 14-6 loss at Montini. Goforth was encouraged by the improvements he saw compared to the effort Benet put forth in its 32-7 season-opening loss against Oswego.

"We need to catch the ball and tackle better," Goforth said. "If we can do those two things and play like we did against Montini in all other areas - we'll be in good shape."

Goforth said quarterback Jimmy Riley played much better than his passing numbers (11 of 31 for 99 yards) indicated against Montini.

Zavagnin is concerned with the height advantage the Redwings appear to have at almost every position.

"This might sound strange for football, but Benet seems to be a long team and taller than most teams you will see," Zavagnin said.

St. Joseph counters with running back Tim Kelly, who has rushed for more than 300 yards and five touchdowns in the Chargers' first two games.

Goforth's bottom line for the Redwings: "We don't want to be their first conference win."