Trending
STEUBENVILLE -- Catholic Central wraps up a three-game home stand Saturday when Ashtabula St. John visits Harding Stadium.
Fans are reminded that the first-ever meeting between the Division VII schools will start at 6:30 p.m.
The Crusaders improved to 3-0 on the season with a 28-14 Week 3 win over Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans. Meanwhile, the Heralds cracked the victory column for the first time, knocking off Beachwood, a Division V school, 38-24.
Going into the Rosecrans game, Central coach Eric Meek was looking for his Crusaders to improve their run blocking. Suffice it to say--mission accomplished.
Central collected 292 yards on the ground (junior Tommy Pergi went for 120 and a touchdown).
Senior tailback B.J. Fallon contributed 95 and also found the end zone while senior quarterback Tyler Ialenti added 77. He also threw for 40 yards and returned an interception 20 yards for a score.
"On the front side with our offensive line, yes, I was very pleased with our run blocking," Meek said. "On the back side, not as much at times. I told our backs they have to do a better job of blocking. We had some penalties early on the game and made some mistakes but those things are very correctible. The bottom line is we rushed for 292 yards and averaged more than 7.5 yards a carry in a ball game against a quality opponent. That's good.
"I was concerned about Rosecrans' speed. They had a lot of kids back from last year. It was very hot down on that turf. Both teams gutted it out. I was a good, solid Division VII football game. I was very pleased we came out with a victory and we moved on to 3-0."
The Heralds opened the season with two losses by a combined score of 78-18. St. John lost to Garfield Heights Trinity 38-6 and Wickliffe 48-12. Both of those schools compete in Division VI. After a scoreless first quarter against Beachwood, St. John put 20 points on the board before the half.
Junior quarterback Vin Narducci (6-1, 205) ran for two touchdowns and connected with sophomore Anthony Severino and junior Will Anderson for two more six-pointers.
"We are really happy for our kids," Bob Dlwgosh, who's in his fourth season as the St. John grid boss, said following the game. "They deserve this for all the work they have been putting in.
"It was a long time coming. The kids have worked for it and deserved it I'm just glad we got that monkey off our back. Offensively, we played our most complete game both running and passing.
The guys in the trenches really stepped it up on both sides of the ball."
St. John has 22 players on its roster but only one is a senior -- two-way lineman Henry Wagner (5-11, 209).
"We are young with just one senior and he's a great leader for us," Dlwgosh said. "We have a nice junior class. Our two biggest classes are our sophomores and freshmen.
"Offensively, our focus this year is to be more balanced. We threw the ball a lot last year. You could categorize us as a spread offense."
Narducci is joined in the backfield by junior fullback Ryan Williams (5-10, 217) and running backs Anderson (5-11, 188) and junior Sully Twining (5-11, 166). Williams had a 65-yard touchdown run in the win against Beachwood.
"Like us, St. John is a small school," Meek said. "Their numbers are actually lower than ours.
They are coming off a win over a Division V school so I know they are going to come ready to play.
"Their quarterback can throw the ball. We have to be physical with them. We also need to correct our mistakes and keep getting better. In practice this week, we are going to focus on all the little things we need to do in order to get us to 4-0."
After watching film of the Crusaders, Dlwgosh said he came away "pretty impressed."
"They are disciplined and well-coached, you can see that on film," he said. "Their quarterback (Ialenti) is tough as nails. Number 18 (Pergi) is quick and shifty and all their running backs run extremely hard.
"Their defense really swarms to the ball and that's incredible. I'm going to ask their coach how he gets that mentality across to this team