Catholic Central quarterback Matthew Sprochi break a run around the edge during Saturday's game against Strasburg. - Andrew Grimm

The Crusaders led at halftime of their home opener at Harding Stadium, were out-gaining the Tigers by more than a 2-1 margin at the break, and, outside of one big play, were holding strong on defense.

In the second half, however, the experience on the Strasburg side showed through as the visitors did all of the second half scoring to come back for a 20-12 victory.

“Strasburg is a very well-coached team, a veteran team, I am proud of our kids,” Central head coach Eric Meek said. “We gave them everything we had, our kids played about as hard as we could possibly play.

“We improved tremendously from Week 1, if we keep improving and stay healthy, we can turn into a good team despite our youth. We did some positive things tonight.

Central's Kyran Busic fights for yards against Strasburg on Saturday night. - Andrew Grimm

“Give (Strasburg) credit, they made a few more plays than we did.”

After Central (1-1) led 12-6 at halftime, the Tigers (2-0) out-gained the hosts 143-15 in net yardage in the second half and scored the final 14 points of the game.

“They have a lot of kids back from a team that beat us by two touchdowns last year,” Meek said of the Tigers. “They were a young team and we were a veteran team last year and roles were reversed tonight, but we gave them all they could handle.”

The difference-making score came early in the fourth quarter as Gage Moore broke a 22-yard scoring run to break a 12-12 tie at the end of three quarters, a two-point run after by Keizer Thomas making it an 8-point game.

Central had a promising drive going looking to answer after Matthew Sprochi returned the ensuing kick to the Strasburg side of the 50, and moved the ball to the 20, but an interception on a fourth down play ended the threat.

Central's Ryan Holzworth celebrates his touchdown with Seth White during Saturday's game. - Andrew Grimm

The Crusaders defense forced a stop and got the offense the ball back with 2:16 to go, but the drive ended with a turnover on downs to allow the visitors to hold on for the comeback win.

Sprochi led Central with 74 yards on 30 carries while completing 5 of 11 passes for 56 yards. He rushed for 111 yards on 27 totes without three sacks for -37 yards factored into his totals.

Ryan Holzworth (43 yards on 15 carries) and Kyran Busic (13 yards on six carries) scored Central’s touchdowns in the second quarter.

After neither team scored in the opening 12 minutes – Central had a promising first drive of the game end with an interception in the red zone – the Crusaders struck first when Holzworth capped a long scoring drive with a 2-yard plunge early in the second quarter, a 38-yard run by Sprochi helping set up the score.

The Tigers answered on their next offensive snap as Thomas (82 yards on 12 carries) broke a 56-yard scoring run. That one play accounted for the majority of Strasburg’s first half yards as Central’s defense held them to just 30 yards outside that play and without a first down in the opening half.

Prior the break, Central put together another nice drive, this time capped by a 1-yard Busic plunge on a fullback dive up the middle with 18 seconds left in the half, making it a 12-6 Crusader lead at the break and a 185-86 advantage in yards gained in the first two quarters.

From there, though, the Tigers did all the scoring.

Defensively, Central got a fumble recovery from Busic, while Zach Bryan and Alex Federoff each broke up a pass.

UP NEXT

Strasburg: Hosts Leetonia in its home opener Friday night.

Catholic Central: Is back at home next Saturday to host Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans (2-0).

Strasburg 20, Catholic Central 12

S 0-6-6-8 – 20

CC 0-12-0-0 – 12

SCORING PLAYS

First Quarter

None

Second Quarter

CC: Holzworth 2 run (kick failed) 9:32

S: Thomas 56 run (kick failed) 9:05

CC: Busic 1 run (kick failed) :18

Third Quarter

S: Becker 22 pass from Baughman (kick failed) 2:09

Fourth Quarter

S: Moore 22 run (Thomas run) 11:42

RUSHING: Strasburg 22-170-2TD (McVay 3-21; Thomas 12-82-TD; Baughman 3-11; Moore 4-56-TD); Catholic Central 55-144-2TD (Sprochi 30-74; Holzworth 15-43-TD; Busic 6-13-TD; Irvin 3-13; Bryan 1-1)

PASSING: Strasburg 5-9-59-TD (all by Baughman); Catholic Central 5-11-56-2INT (all by Sprochi)

RECEIVING: Strasburg 5-59-TD (Moore 1-4; Becker 2-24-TD; McVay 1-11; Septer 1-20); Catholic Central 5-56 (Thorn 1-13; Fabbro 1-9; Busic 1-14; Bryan 1-11; Rambsel 1-9)

FIRST DOWNS: Strasburg 5; Catholic Central 13

PENALTIES-YARDS: Strasburg 8-75; Catholic Central 9-67

FUMBLES-LOST: Strasburg 3-1; Catholic Central 0-0