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St. Joseph Preview Capsule

By Mike Johnson (Kenosha News), 08/20/19, 11:15AM CDT

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Milwaukee Bradley Tech at St. Joseph

When: 7 tonight

Where: Ameche Field (8701 26th Ave.)

Series note: According to News records, this is the teams' first meeting in recent history.

 

Player to watch: It's no secret that 6-foot-1, 245-pound senior Kyle Matrise will be the Lancers' leader on the offensive and defensive lines all season. But there's an emotional component to his season, too, after Matrise's father, Frank Matrise Jr., died in July. Frank Matrise was the head coach at Tremper for 19 seasons and is a member of the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. With Kyle on the team, Frank assisted for the Lancers the last three seasons. ... "He's a captain, he's shown a lot of great leadership, he's worked really hard on the offensive and defensive line," St. Joseph coach Matt Rizzo said of Kyle Matrise. "There's obviously a harder side to it, but it's going to be his first game without his dad. I know he's going to have his family there. ... He's one of those kids that's first in and last out. He takes care of his teammates. ... He's an extension of our coaching staff. He's been a great captain. I'm glad the team chose him as a captain. There's going to be a lot of feelings going around in Game 1, and I'm rooting for him every game."

 

Key stat: St. Joseph has just five seniors on its roster, so Rizzo and his staff will rely heavily on contributions from underclassmen, and that'll have to start tonight.

 

FYI: This is Rizzo's first game leading the Lancers. The middle school principal at St. Joseph, Rizzo was the head coach at Bradford from 2013 through 2017 before taking last season off. ... Bradley Tech is in the Milwaukee City Conference Richardson Division and went 4-4 last season after having its Week 1 game against HOPE Christian canceled.