OVER THE TOP — Catholic Central’s Rahim Mitchell repeatedly flies past Carrick defender Mike Davis near the goal line during Saturday’s senior night game at Harding Stadium. I caught it. Mitchell made the catch and the Crusaders won 26-18, ending the regular season with a 7-3 record. – Andrew Grimm
STEUBENVILLE — The game came down to the final play, but Catholic Central got the important Senior Night victory it needed.
Matthew Sproche makes one last pass into the end zone as the clock hits zero on Senior Night at Harding Stadium on Saturday as the Crusaders fend off a fourth-quarter comeback by visiting Pittsburgh Carrick. They achieved a 26-18 victory.
The win ended a two-game deficit, and Central finished the regular season with a record of 7 wins and 3 losses. It was good enough to finish fourth in the Division VII, Region 27 standings.
“I want to give Carrick credit. They played hard and their speed was impressive,” Catholic Central head coach Eric Meek said. “I’ve only seen them on film against Wheeling Central, so maybe that’s why they didn’t look as fast, but they did some good things and were up to the challenge. there were.
“I’m really proud of our defense. Our defense did a really good job. I was worried that their offense was going to come…Our defense worked really well. But they got some big turnovers and were able to run their offense when they needed to.
“We needed a tough, hard-fought win like this to get into the playoffs after two straight losses. It was a hard-fought battle all the way to the end. We’re happy to win and be back here next week, and we’re going beyond that. I hope I can keep playing.”
The Crusaders led 14-0 at halftime and led 20-6 in the fourth quarter, but there were some tense moments late.
Carrick QB Zion Frye completed all 10 of the games in the fourth quarter, gaining all 137 yards and fueling the Raiders’ comeback, including a 30-yard touchdown to a wide-open Marcus Fields with 48 seconds left. It looked like. He set up a two-point try to tie the game, but an ineligible man downfield penalty nullified the score.
Another heave toward the end zone went wide, and Peyton Roush sacked the fly, setting up the Hail Mary heave on the final play. Rauch, one of 10 seniors being celebrated, had 3.5 sacks in the game, giving him over 20 sacks on the season. He also forced and recovered a fumble early in the game.
Frye was 0-7 in the first three quarters, then made nine straight shots and scored two touchdowns in the fourth, but the Crusader defense was slow to make big plays when needed. .
The finish was thrilling, but the start was quite slow.
Neither team scored in the first quarter, and the Central offense went to negative yards on its first two possessions.
However, the Crusaders’ offense took off in the second quarter, gaining 155 of their 269 yards in the second quarter.
A first-quarter drive that started with an interception by Kailan Busic went deep in Carrick End, but a fourth-down pass at the goal line was called incomplete, ending the first scoring threat of the game.
But Rauch punched the ball out and pounced two plays later, and on the next snap, Tommy Pergi broke free for a 41-yard TD run to take the lead.
Central had another long drive at the end of the first half, this time with Jimmy Hernon crossing the goal line for a 1-yard scoring run to make it 14 points with 12 seconds left in the half. 0. Rahim Mitchell’s 27-yard catch on the second set set the score.
The Raiders (3-6) took the lead early in the third quarter on Amari Eliam’s 39-yard punt return touchdown to make it 14-6, but Central responded before the end of the quarter with another great scoring drive. Unfortunately, it ended in a goal. Hernon made his second 1-yard plunge in the final moments of the quarter.
Carrick came close to scoring again on a 15-yard pass connection from Frye to Kejuan Johnson to make it 20-12, but Hernon broke the tackle and was free on the next attack for a 40-yard scoring run. Once again, Central led by two points. drive.
But that wasn’t the end for Carrick, as Frye threw a 5-yard pass to Stephon Malloy, who fumbled as he tried to cross the goal line, but recovered the ball in the end zone to make it 26-18. The Raiders forced their way through. On the ensuing central drive, they recovered the fumble and regained the ball, creating a dramatic development in the final stages.
Central gained 223 yards on 50 carries, with Hernon and Pergi each gaining 101 yards. Hernon’s 101 yards were exactly the total yards needed to reach the 1,000-yard mark for the season.
The OHSAA released the final computer ratings Saturday night, and Central, which finished fourth in Region 27, will play No. 13 seed River next Saturday night at Harding Stadium in the opening round of the playoffs. It will be. The Pilots finished the regular season with 4 wins and 6 losses.
If Central wins that game, they will also qualify for home in the second round, finishing in the top four confirmed by the win over Carrick.
Catholic Central 26, Pittsburgh Carrick 18
PC 0-0-6-12 – 18
CC 0-14-6-6 – 26
Scoring the play
1st quarter
none
2nd quarter
CC: Pergi 41 Run (Hernon Run) 3:51
CC: Hernon 1 run (kick failure): 12
3rd quarter
PC: Eliam 39 Punt return (failed pass) 8:02
CC: Hernon 1 run (run failure): 49
4th quarter
PC: Johnson 15 Pass from fly (incompleted pass) 9:58
CC: Hernon 40 runs (kick failure) 6:55
PC: Malloy 5 fly to pass (failure to pass) 4:02
Rushing: Pittsburgh Carrick 20-34 (Fry 11-(-2), Malloy 9-36). Catholic Central 50-223-4TD (Hernon 25-101-3TD; Sproki 5-21; Pergi 20-101-TD)
Passing: Pittsburgh Carrick 10-21-137-2TD-INT (all fly) Catholic Central 5-11-46 (all by Sprochi)
Reception: Pittsburgh Carrick 10-137-2TD (Malloy 3-42-TD; Arner 1-42; Eliem 1-10; Johnson 3-39-TD; Fields 2-7); Catholic Central 5-46 (Pergi 2- 9; McInnis 1-3; Mitchell 2-34)
First down: Pittsburgh Carrick 8; Catholic Central 15
Penalty Yards: Pittsburgh Carrick 10-87; Catholic Central 3-25
Lost fumble: Pittsburgh Carrick 2-1. Catholic Central 2-1
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