Thanksgiving 2012: Fenwick looks for strong finish to cap off a fine season

The Bishop Fenwick football team will be on the road Thursday morning to face its biggest rival in Austin Prep on Turkey Day.It has been a very competitive, tight matchup as of late in the rivalry, as the series has been split 3-3 in the past six years. The Crusaders go into the game with a solid 7-3 record while the Cougars are 4-6. Despite the disparities in records, Fenwick coach Dave Woods knows how intense and competitive this game will be when Thursday rolls around.”Austin Prep is a very good football team,” he said. “They have a very tough offense to go up against and to prepare for.”My boys will really have to be focused, disciplined and dialed in to what Austin Prep is trying to accomplish. (The Cougars) run a double wing offense that will really test a team’s will and discipline throughout the game.”My boys on defense really have to find a way to create a few three and outs to get the Austin Prep offense off the field and out of their comfort zone. If Austin Prep can get comfortable, then my team could not see the ball on offense for a very long time,” Woods said.The Crusaders played one opponent throughout the year that mirrors the Cougars, and that was St. Mary’s. Fenwick fell just short to the Spartans 14-12 last month and Woods was very optimistic after that game and feels it will be very useful on Thursday.”I do not think there was any other team that held St. Mary’s to 14 points all season. We know our defense can stop this kind of offense, and I know if my boys are prepared, then I expect to do so,” Woods said.The Crusaders had a big turnaround from last year’s 3-8 mark. This year Fenwick is trying to come full circle to 8-3. Woods believes the biggest difference from this year to last year was experience.”I believe that our experience really was the biggest difference in our success. Last year most of my team was freshmen and sophomores, and now they are sophomores and juniors and it has really been a significant difference,” Woods said.The Crusaders were a team of streaks as they started off the season on a five-game winning streak. Then they had a three-game losing streak, and then a two-game winning streak. Woods was very impressed with his team throughout the whole season.”I was very impressed to see them bounce back after having such a tough stretch in the middle of the season. We had some tight, close losses, but my boys were able to put those behind them and keep playing good football week in and week out,” Woods said.Fenwick became a better team as the season grew old. Early on in the season, the Crusaders relied on sophomore halfback Rufus Rushins of Lynn to carry the load. By midway through the season, senior quarterback Fran Hannon took a much bigger role in the offense.Hannon aired out the ball to all different Crusader receivers, which took a whole lot of the pressure off Rushins.The Crusaders plan on finishing second in the league with an 8-3 record overall Thursday.