FINDING ROOM TO RUN — Catholic Central quarterback looks to elude a Cleveland East Tech tackler during Saturday’s game at Harding Stadium. The Crusaders won to clincg a home playoff game. - Andrew Grimm

After some early stumbles, the Crusaders were able to accomplsh that mission quite convincingly.

Central scored the first 37 points on the way to rolling to a 37-6 victory over visiting Cleveland East Tech on senior night at Harding Stadium. By virtue of doing so, Central finished sixth in the Division VII, Region 27 standings, locking up a home game in the opening round of the playoffs next week. It also locked up another winning season for the Crusaders, who improve to 6-4.

“I’m very proud of this group,” Central head coach Eric Meek said. “We had some outstanding players back, but not a lot of players back from last year and a lot of kids starting in August that had never played in a varsity football game before, and now we’re going to host a playoff game. I really feel like we really improved and grew as a team.

“Who would have thought back in July when we started, with all the youth and inexperience, that we would be hosting a playoff game, but the kids and coaching staff really bought in and stayed the course and we’re going to be back here next week.

Catholic Central’s Matty Jones tries to get to the goal line while fighting off a Cleveland East Tech tackler following a catch. - Andrew Grimm

“We knew what the scenario was tonight and the kids came out and accomplished the goal. We feel like we’re playing our best football right now, which is exactly what you want to do – be playing your best at the end of the year.”

After turning the ball over on each of its first two possessions – the game started with turnovers on the first four possessions and the teams combined for seven turnovers in the game – and sitting in a 0-0 tie through the opening quarter, the Crusaders exploded for 25 points in the second qusrter to take control.

They led 37-0 after three. The visiting Scarabs, a Division III school whose season ends with a 3-6 record, scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter with the running clock in effect.

“The only negative thing in the entire game was the turnovers,” Meek said. “Defensively I thought we played great, offensively we moved the ball. We overcame the fumbles early, we can’t have those next week in the playoffs. We made the plays we needed to make and I’m just really proud of the kids.”

Quarterback Matthew Sprochi overcame a couple early fumbles to rush for a pair of scores and throw for one more, having one of his best passing nights of the season with 98 yards, completing seven passes to four different targets. He was inches away from having two pass TDs if not for a Crusader fumble just shy of the goal line. He also rushed for a team-high 61 yards.

Central’s Kyran Busic fights for extra yards. - Andrew Grimm

After the early turnovers, Matty Jones (three catches for 59 yards) hauled in a 3-yard TD toss from Sprochi on a fourth-and-goal play early in the second quarter to open the scoring, a Kyran Busic two-point run making it 8-0.

The Central defense, which by that point had already created three turnovers and blocked a punt, forced a three-and-out. A personal foul after a short kick set Central up at the Scarabs 15 and Sprochi capped the quick ensuing drive with a 6-yard scoring run, Busic plunging in again to make it 16-0.

Sprochi scored on a 3-yard run late in the second quarter to make it 23-0 with 53 seconds left in the half.

The ensuing kick went out of bounds, and rather than take the ball at the 35, East Tech opted for a re-kick. The re-kick bounced all the way to the 2, where a Scarab player recovered it, but the very next play Nate Irvin recorded a sack in the end zone for a safety to make it 25-0, giving Central nine points in a span of six seconds of game time.

After the break, Sprochi took the opening the kick of the second half 75 yards to the house to make it 31-0 and start the running clock. After another fumble by East Tech on their first snap of the second half, Ryan Holzworth powered through multiple tacklers into the end zone for a 6-yard scoring run to make it 37-0.

Catholic Central’s Michael Fabbro looks to stay in bounds after making a catch against Cleveland East Tech on Saturday. - Andrew Grimm

East Tech’s Zikei Harrison, who had 81 of the Scarabs’ 106 yards, scored on a 3-yard run with under three minutes to play to cap the scoring.

Defensively for Central, Irvin had a monster game, finishing with two fumble recoveries, two sacks, the forced safety and a tackle for loss.

Zach Bryan had an interception and a fumble recovery and Alex Federoff and Johnny Kostecki each had a tackle for loss.