STEUBENVILLE — The last time Catholic Central suffered a tough loss on the road, the Crusaders responded with a hard-fought win the next time out and turned it into a five-game winning streak, which was snapped last week at Wheeling Central.

Veteran coach Eric Meek is hoping to see a similar response from his group when they take the field at Harding Stadium Saturday night to host Conotton Valley, looking to quickly put the setback to the Maroon Knights in the rear-view.

“We hope we can do that again,” Meek said of the quick bounce back. “We feel that Wheeling Central was an outstanding football team. There were some things that we did not do correctly, but give Wheeling Central credit. The last time we lost, way back in late August, we had a big challenge on the road the next week against a good team and were able to pull out a win and we have another challenge in Conotton Valley this week.

“Conotton Valley is one of the top teams on our schedule this year.”

The Rockets come to town with a 5-3 record. They are No. 6 in the Division VII, Region 27 standings, while the Crusaders are No. 3 in the same region with a mark of 6-2.

Central has clinched a playoff spot, according to Joe Eitel’s projections, while the Rockets are listed as controlling their own destiny.

With Central looking to stay in the top four to be in position to host in the first two rounds of the playoffs, and Conotton Valley trying to lock up a playoff spot, Saturday’s game is a huge one for both teams.

The Rockets have wins over Tuscarawas Central, Strasburg, Bridgeport, Buckeye Trail and Frontier.

They had a four-game win streak snapped with a loss at Toronto last week. Their other defeats are to Malvern and at Newcomerstown back in Weeks 2 and 3.

CV brings a pass-heavy attack led by senior QB Zachary Putnam. He’s completed nearly 64 percent of his passes this season for 1,564 yards, 22 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Fellow senior Brooks Bower is his top touchdown target with 11 six-pointers on the season. He’s second on the team in receptions with 43 for 480 yards. Their leading pass catcher is junior Kamden Wright with 47 for 545 yards and five scores.

“Their quarterback is a very accurate passer and it seems they like to throw the ball on about eight out of 10 plays,” Meek said. “Their defense, at times, has played tough. If you look at their schedule, they’ve played some really good teams.

“The games that really concern me is that they played Malvern really tough, they beat Buckeye Trail and they beat Strasburg, who beat us earlier in the year, they beat them 39-6. So, there are some things to be concerned about there. We have to come out and play really good football on Saturday night.”

The Crusaders are looking to stay unbeaten at home, a streak that goes back to 2022.

“It is good to be back at home, we’ve won quite a few games at home the last couple years,” Meek said. “We’re going for our 10th-straight win at Harding Stadium. That would be a tremendous victory for us against a good football team.”