Another big game this weekend is the D2 state semifinal between Catholic Memorial and Marshfield.

The Rams opened the season with losses to St. John’s Prep and Methuen, but have come roaring back with eight consecutive wins.

We reached out to Marshfield coach Chris Arouca to talk about his team and the challenge ahead.

Here is an edited version of that conversation.

Adam Kurkjian: The first thing I want to talk about, when people see you play, everyone talks about how fast your offense plays. There are not many teams in Massachusetts that are in your category when it comes to how quickly you get to the line and run a play. How hard is that to install, and at this point in your career at Marshfield, is it easier because the kids know what to expect?

CA: That’s a good question. When you first start doing it, it’s tough, and you’re constantly screaming at them to line up, line up, and pressing the tempo. But I think it’s like anything. That’s what we do. That’s how we practice. It’s everything that we do. To our kids, it’s the same thing as getting in and out of the huddle. . . . It’s tough, but you’ve just got to keep doing it all the time.

AK: I noticed a lot of your key guys seem to be juniors. Who are the guys who have been leading you this year? Seniors, juniors, sophomores, or whoever?

CA: The senior class is very small. But I will say, playing fast, on Saturday we have to get first downs. If you don’t get first downs, you can’t play like that. That’s a problem against these guys, as everyone will tell you. The seniors, there’s only 15 of them. There wasn’t that many when they were freshmen, and there’s been attrition since they were freshmen. The fact that they’ve stuck it out for four years when they had a tough youth career. Not that that is the defining metric, but those kids won one game from second grade to eighth grade. Now, like I said, there’s 15 of them, and they have banded together. Yes, there are a lot of juniors that are playing, but the seniors that have stuck it out and are playing, have been playing really well. In that senior group, Nick Cupples is our captain. He has been everything you want in a captain. Everything he does is full speed. He’s a great cheerleader for the other kids. He wants everybody to succeed. The rest of the seniors have been right with him this year. A lot of them have stepped up and surprised us as a coaching staff with the years that they’re having. They’ve done a really good job. On the offensive line, Dom Devitt, Quinn Eraklis, and Liam Palmer. On the defensive line, you have John McAlpine, who has been having a very good year. Some other guys on the d-line, Griffin Burhoe and Dan McTiernan have been coming in, and Brady Bogni at middle linebacker.

AK: Obviously, playing Catholic Memorial is a huge challenge. I know you went against them a couple years ago. Is this week any different knowing you’re going to play a team like that? Or do you try to keep it as similar as possible?

CA: You try to keep it as similar as you can. You get ready for some really good teams. At the beginning of the year, we played some really good teams. You have your league schedule and the playoffs, you play some really good teams. At this point, you can’t change who you are. I don’t think you can do that and reinvent yourself your 11th game, particularly against this team. They’re really, really good. They’re back-to-back state champs. That team two years ago was really good. We couldn’t get much going against them. Now we’re meeting them again in the same spot.

AK: I’ve covered Marshfield a lot, and they’ve had some amazing teams. What’s it like being a part of this tradition, following in the footsteps of a guy like Lou Silva?

CA: When I was applying for the job, I had to ask if I really wanted it, because it’s tough to follow coach Silva. I say all the time, coach Silva won more games as a head coach than I’ll be a head coach for. That stat will probably hold true. He’s been coaching with us this year. He’s been on the sideline with us. His grandson is a senior. So I have him there, and sometimes he’s like part of the Jedi council that I go to. The older guys on the coaching staff and I go, “What do you think?” And they give me their advice. Certainly he’s a tough one to follow. You go, “Do I want to do this every day?” When I pull into work and it says, “Coach Lou Silva Drive”? But having him on the sidelines has been great. This year, we were playing Bridgewater-Raynham on a Friday night, and it’s raining, and I’m getting kind of frustrated. We’re warming up, and I’m kind of getting on a couple guys. He walks up to me and goes, “Don’t worry, coach, they’re ready.” I said, “You sure?” He says, “Oh, yeah.” Then it’s 33-0 and I go, “All right, coach, I’ll listen to you.”