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STEUBENVILLE -- Catholic Central will look to bounce back from a tough loss to Madonna when it welcomes Pittsburgh Carrick to Harding Stadium Saturday.
The kick for the second meeting between the schools (Central earned a 36-6 win a season ago) is set for 7 p.m.
Central is 1-5 under first year coach Eric Meek while the Raiders will bring a 2-3 mark to town.
Carrick snapped a losing streak which dated back to 2017 in its season opener by taking down Carlynton 21-0. Coach Greg Johnston's club also whipped Brownsville and has fallen to Albert Gallatin, Uniontown and Pittsburgh USO.
"We almost got that victory Saturday and it was a tough pill to swallow because the kids played so hard," Meek said when looking back at the 29-14 setback to Madonna. "I've said all along we want to get better every game and I think we are doing that. Unfortunately, when you play a good team like Madonna, you can't lose the turnover margin 5-0.
"It was 14-14, a hard fought game by both teams and we had the ball late. It ended up 29-14 so give Madonna credit. If you would have flipped that 5-0, we could have had a really good night.
"The downfall was turnovers. We gave up five and did not create any but man, our defense played with so much heart and our special teams played smart. Offensively, we had yardage -- it was our best offensive game but when you give them the ball five times, you are not going to have as many points as you would like. We just have to keep working and we have a great group of kids here."
Senior quarterback Andrew Dorsey threw for 259 yards and a touchdown against the Blue Dons.
He also ran for a score.
Junior Tyler Ialenti caught five Dorsey aerials for 99 yards. Another junior, BJ Fallon, finished with four grabs for 86 yards and a score. Sophomore Tommy Pergi also had four receptions, good for 57 yards.
"We are getting better," Meek said. "We are a much better team than we were back in August.
That is what I have said all along, we want to keep improving and we want to the kids to play hard. We are starting to get really aggressive, playing with pride and heart and that's all you can ask.
"I have always wanted teams to get better as the season progresses and we are doing that. We are lifting hard in-season and we are practicing hard. In my opinion, and I am very confident in saying this, I see a light at the end of the tunnel and I think it is a very bright light. Now, it's just a matter of how quick it will happen. I am very confident that this program will have some very good days ahead of it."
Carrick is led by senior quarterback Rashod Woods. He is surrounded by some talented receivers in the likes of Shawn Karioki, Zaire Lowery and Michael Davis.
"They definitely are an improved team from a year ago," Meek said of Carrick. "They have more kids on the roster and they have some tremendous athletes. They already have won a couple of games this season. I got to see them in person two weeks ago against Brownsville and they are very athletic. Plus, they tackle well. It's certainly not an easy task ahead of us.
"We now are at the point where we need to worry about ourselves and that's what we have been focusing on. We want to keep getting better each and every day and each and every game."
Following the contest with Carrick, the Crusaders will visit Bridgeport before closing out the 2022 season with home games against Conotton Valley and Toronto.
"We have five seniors on our roster (Dorsey, Dashon Seditz, Nico Petrella, Willie Rao and Meliki Manley) and I have told them they are the foundation of building this thing up," Meek said. "We had our first junior varsity game in several years this week so that is another building block.
"We want to keep getting better, keep improving the numbers, keep moving forward with our conditioning program and do all the right things."