Knights, Crusaders set for big clash
Home field in the playoffs on the line when rivals meet
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TORONTO -- To the victor goes the spoils.
A bunch of "spoils," in addition to those which automatically come with earning a victory in a major rivalry game, will be on the line Friday when Steubenville Catholic Central and Toronto renew their Route 7 rivalry.
The opening kick for the 50th meeting between the schools is set for 7 p.m. inside Clarke Hinkle Stadium. Central holds a 31-17-1 lead in the series but the Red Knights have won three straight.
The Crusaders will bring a 9-0 mark to the Gem City. Thanks to last week's 44-20 victory over Conotton Valley, the 2023 Central team became the school's first squad since 1971 to start a season 9-0.
The Red Knights, winners of six straight, are 8-1 overall. In Week 9 action, Toronto rolled to a 54-20 win over Caldwell.
Both clubs have clinched berths in the Division VII, Region 25 playoffs. Toronto is currently ranked sixth in the region and Central is 11th. With a win Friday, the Red Knights, according to Joe Eitel, would finish somewhere between first and ninth in the region. A loss would knock Josh Franke's club down to somewhere between third and 11th.
Should Central earn a victory, Eitel predicts the Crusaders could finish anywhere between second and 11th. On the other hand, a loss would mean a finish between fifth and 12th.
On his Ohio Fantastic 50 website, Drew Pasteur has Toronto listed as a 33 point favorite for Friday's game. He predicts the Red Knights will finish fourth in the region and earn a first round home game against Southern. He has Central finishing 10th, meaning an opening round trip to Lucas.
"The Catholic Central-Toronto game is a huge game any year," Franke said. "This year, it's even a little more special just because they are 9-0 and we are 8-1. We've been undefeated since Russ (Dickinson) has taken over at quarterback and are playing really well. Both teams are playing very well. They're obviously 9-0 for a reason and we're going to come in having prepared for them as hard or harder than we have for anyone else.
"This is a very heated rivalry with two very good teams playing in it. It's one of those games you're excited to play in, it just means a little bit more.
"You never can tell how these rivalry games are going to go. One of these games a few years ago in 2019 had playoff implications and it came down to Zach Stackhouse making an interception in the end zone at the end. These are the kinds of games where you pretty much throw the records out and don't know what to expect because everyone on both sides is going to give the very best they have to offer."
"Getting a home playoff game is a very big deal, and right now our mindset is we're playing for a top-four seed," Franke added of the added implications. "If we win this game, there is not only potential to host one playoff game, but if we win in Week 11, possibly two playoff games. That is something that hasn't happened in Toronto since they implemented the new playoff format and it's definitely something that we've talked about with the team. Not that any extra motivation is needed, but our guys know that is on the line.
"We're also playing for an OVAC championship, which is something that has not happened in Toronto in football since 1998, it's been 25 years. We're in first place and we need to win this game in order to seal that.
"There's an opportunity to beat your rival, but we're also playing for a home playoff spot and an OVAC championship. There's a lot on the line Friday night."
The Red Knights are leading the Class 2A conference standings entering the week, while the Crusaders are third.
"We know one thing -- the winner of this game will be playing at home next week," said Central coach Eric Meek. "To me, that is a huge thing.
"The winner will be playing at home and the loser will be getting on a bus and going somewhere, we'd prefer not to be the team getting on a bus."
Central held a 15-14 halftime lead against Conotton Valley before getting its offense going in the second half.
Tyler Ialenti ran for 164 yards and three touchdowns BJ Fallon added 153 rushing yards and a score. Tommy Pergi contributed 60 yards and two six-pointers. As a team, the Crusaders finished with 377 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.
Fallon has a 56-yard scoring run that tied the game in the first quarter. Ialenti found the end zone on runs of 36, 44 and 1 yards. Pergi's scores came on scampers of 17 and 10 yards.
"Once again, our kids just had a tremendous night," Meek said. "We moved the ball well in the first half and had quite a few yards. We did throw a pick six and fumbled on another long drive.
"At halftime, we asked the kids 'what are we doing?' It was calm as it always is in the locker room. We moved the ball tremendously on the ground in the second half, played great defense and outscored Conotton Valley 29-6."
When discussing the 9-0 start, Meek said:
"We keep telling the kids every week -- this is not a dream, this is happening. We're not satisfied. The kids show up and continue to work hard. I always make Week 10 senior week. We have some nice activities planned for them. Our seniors are a special group. I'm surely going to miss being with them every single day like we have really since the beginning of June."
Central is averaging 252 yards per game on the ground and 30 points. Ialenti has run for a team-leading 845 yards. He also has thrown for 471 yards and five touchdowns. Fallon has compiled 733 rushing yards and is tied with Noah Hough for the team receiving lead with seven catches. Pergi has 570 rushing yards.
"They want to send more guys to one side of the football than you have guys to defend it and it has obviously worked pretty well for them," Franke said. "They have a plethora of different people that can run the ball and you have to be prepared for that. The moment you adjust to that and move guys to the side you think they're going, they run to the opposite side and counter away from that.
"They really want to make you play a balanced defense, and when you do play a balanced defense, they send more blockers than you have defenders to either side. Defensively it puts you in a predicament to try and stop. They want to get everyone in the box and create additional running lanes that challenges us, it really does.
"The nice thing for us is we are familiar with it, we have a double-tight wishbone set, we have a double-wing set … We played Lucas in the playoffs last year that ran a double tight, double wing offense, we played Edison who spreads it out a little more but have a similar style between the tackles. We've seen similar stuff, but it is very polar opposite of what we do offensively."
The Crusader defense has surrendered just 56 points so far this season.
"Defensively they're going to run a 4-2-5 and they want to run some man coverage with a safety over top, so it is difficult to take the top off their defense," Franke said. "They have a really good pass rush, they have some good defensive linemen and they blitz a healthy amount. They come after you. They do a lot of things that we have to try and overcome offensively as well.
"We are an attacking offense, we come at you and throw a lot of things at you and see if you're able to make the alignments needed to be able to stop it."
Toronto's explosive offense has put 354 points on the board in nine outings. The Red Knights have allowed 104 points.
In the win over Caldwell, Russ Dickinson threw for four touchdowns to four different receivers. He finished the night 15 of 22 for 227 yards and hit Dom Bouscher, Kam Baker, Mason Marchbank and Nolan Dickinson for scores.
Bouscher, who also ran for a score, hauled in six catches for 74 yards and ran for another 65 yards to lead the rushing attack on nine carries. Marchbank had four catches for 56 yards and Baker hauled in three for 46 yards.
The Red Knights offense totaled 441 yards in the win.
"Toronto is a tremendous football team," Meek said. "It's going to be a tremendous challenge for us. Our kids are great young men. There are probably a lot of people who feel we really don't have a chance in this game, but that is not our approach. Our approach is to get on the bus and return home 10-0.
"They have tremendous athletes. Toronto is very explosive on offense, great on defense and dangerous when it comes to special teams. It is a shame that they had three outstanding members of their team injured during the season.
"Without a doubt, Toronto is an outstanding team. This definitely is the toughest team on our schedule. I really believe Toronto is one of the better Division VII teams in Ohio."
Since taking over as a quarterback, Dickinson has completed 77 of his 113 passes for 1,496 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Dom Bouscher leads the Red Knights with 672 rushing yards on 61 carries. Freshman Drake Bouscher has contributed 323 to the ground attack and Kam Baker 320.
Dom Bouscher also is the top Toronto receiver -- 31 catches for 548 yards and four touchdowns. Marchbank has 25 grabs for 550 yards and eight scores.
"For us to be successful Friday, we have to practice and play with confidence," Meek said. "We must be more physical than Toronto. Defensively, we need to keep their athletes in front of us. We also have to win the turnover battle, play with great intensity and give a full effort. If we do all those things, you never know.
"If it's close at halftime and we get into the third quarter and we are hanging with them or have a lead, we will be in good shape. We just cannot let them get a big lead on us because of the type of team we are.
"We have to win up front -- we have to stop the big play, we need to control the clock and win the turnover margin to have a shot at this game."
Meek expects the 50th renewal of the rivalry to be "a clean, hard-hitting game."
"We have a lot of respect for Toronto," he added. "I know a lot of those kids on a personal basis because I've had them in class or coached them in track. There are some wonderful young men on that team. I have bene on both sides of the fence in this rivalry.
"It's always an intense, hard-fought, clean game. Knowing all my players and about 90 percent of the Toronto players personally, I would be very disappointed if it is not a clean, hard-hitting game."
(Sports editor Andrew Grimm contributed to this report)