Familiar Foe: CCHS meets Lowellville again
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LOWELLVILLE -- There may come a time when Catholic Central goes against a Lowellville football squad that does not have a Ballone at quarterback.
That won't happen Friday night, however, when the 11th seeded Crusaders head north to test the Rockets, who earned the sixth seed, in the opening round of the Division VII, Region 25 playoffs. The opening kick is set for 7 p.m. Lowellville is located in eastern Mahoning County.
Central made the same trip in 2022 when Lowellville was led by senior quarterback Vinnie Ballone, who now is a member of the Youngstown State University football squad. Ballone and the Rockets earned a 54-14 victory in that contest. Lowellville then fell to Lucas in the second round.
Michael Ballone has taken over for his cousin Vinny as the Lowellville quarterback and guided the Rockets to a 9-1 mark.
"He is a different type of athlete," Central coach Eric Meek said. "He's not nearly as big (V. Ballone stands 6-5 while M. Ballone is listed at 5-10) and he is more of a runner. He can throw the ball well and has excellent skill to get the ball to.
"He will run and they will do some option, which you don't see much anymore. He is very elusive. Lowellville has a couple of good receivers and a couple of good running backs."
M. Ballone has thrown 142 passes, completing 86 for 1,354 yards and 16 touchdowns. He has been intercepted five times. In addition, he has run for 512 yards on 66 attempts and scored five times.
During his senior season, Vinny Ballone threw for a school record 3,386 yards and 55 touchdowns. As a junior, Michael completed two passes for 61 yards and caught 22 passes for 298 yards and a touchdown. This past spring, he made the state finals in both hurdle events and competed on Lowellville's 4×400 relay team.
"There are some kids that shy away from the spotlight or aren't built for it -- I think he is," Lowellville coach Andrew Mamula said about M. Ballone during a pre-season interview. "When you are the quarterback, wins or losses are on you. The coach and the quarterback, that's who everyone blames and I think he is ready for that. He has the attitude and the mentality to handle that. I like confidence in a quarterback and he definitely has confidence."
His favorite target is senior Matthew Lucido (6-0, 185) who has 36 receptions for 633 yards and eight scores. Senior Braylen Dabney has hauled in 21 passes for 348 yards and five touchdowns.
Lowellville's leading rusher is senior Santino Rivera-ocasio (5-10, 170) -- 663 yards on 66 carries. He's scored 12 touchdowns
"Their defense has been solid all season and their secondary is very good," Meek said. "Lowellville is coming off a huge win against Springfield Local. That gave them a share of the conference title and helped them earn a home playoff game. I'm sure they are very excited right now."
Michael Ballone passed for 196 yards and ran for 146 in the 27-13 victory over Springfield. The win allowed the Rockets to share the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Scarlet Tier crown with Springfield and Western Reserve.
In compiling its 9-1 record, Lowellville's offense put points on the board while allowing 130. The Rockets have defeated Columbiana, Campbell Memorial, Tuscarawas Central Catholic, Mathews, Mineral Ridge, McDonald, Jackson Milton and Waterloo. The lone loss was a 21-14 setback to Western Reserve.
Central also stands at 9-1 following its tough 17-6 loss at Toronto, the number four seed in Region 25.
"We kind of picked our poison defensively in the Toronto game," Meek said. "Going in, our game plan was to dare them to run and try to cover the pass and keep everything in front of us. I thought we did a good job with the pass. They did hit some big plays on the ground and kind of gashed us.
"At times, we bent, but didn't break. We were within striking distance in the fourth quarter. The issue was after our touchdown with 11:50 left in the game, the rest of the game was played in our territory. We just didn't get enough first downs. I wanted 12 at minimum but we only got six. If we could have picked up another six first down, who knows? That would have been more time that Toronto's offense was not on the field. We just didn't control the ball as much as we needed to in order to come out of there with a win against a very, very good defensive football team.
"I was very proud of our secondary and I thought our special teams played well most of the time. As a team, our kids played hard and played with a lot of class."
Through 10 games, Central's offense is averaging 27.9 points a game while the defense allows 7.3
The CCHS offense is directed by senior quarterback Tyler Ialenti. He leads the team in rushing with 876 yards on 173 carries. He has 13 rushing touchdowns. Ialenti also has completed 35 of his 76 passes for 554 yards and five scores. From his inside linebacker spot, Ialenti has been credited with 71 tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.
Senior tailback BJ Fallon has toted the pigskin 109 times, gaining 751 yards and scoring 11 times. He has eight receptions for 124 yards and two more scores. As an outside linebacker, Fallon has been in on 71 tackles. He has picked off two passes and recovered a fumble.
The third leading rusher is junior speedster Tommy Pergi--570 yards on 66 carries and six touchdowns. As a receiver, he has six grabs for 69 yards. Pergi also plays safety and has recorded 57 tackles to go along with two interceptions.
Senior inside linebacker Brayden Rauch leads the Crusaders in tackles with 126. He has six sacks, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.
Senior defensive end Brendan Grimm has five sacks to go with a fumble recovery and 61 total tackles. Junior defensive tackle Peyton Rauch also has six sacks.
Senior kicker Daniel Bolster, a first team all-Eastern District selection as a junior, is averaging 40.1 yards a punt this season. He has nailed 27 of his 29 extra point attempts and is one for two on field goal tries.
"We want to win this game for our seniors and the future of our program," said Meek. "It would be great to get to 10 wins, which I think is a very hard thing to do in high school football these days.
"We are a football family. We are not a team of individuals and not a team of super stars -- we are a real team. We all feel we are equal and we have each other's back. We just want to win so we can have more time with our seniors. The culture of our program I feel is very strong and there is a real sense of togetherness. The kids enjoy coming to football and we try to do things the correct way."
Meek knows his Crusaders are facing a huge challenge in their quest to reach the 10 victory mark.
"We have to watch their quarterback and contain all of their athletes," he said. "We have to move the ball effectively both on the ground and through the air. We realized last week we need to put the ball in the air in order to beat good football teams.
"Our kids need to play as hard as they can for as long as they can. IF we can do all those things, we hope to get back on the bus with a playoff victory."