Crusaders start ‘road gauntlet’ at Strasburg
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STRASBURG -- Catholic Central put up a valiant effort in their opening game of the season Saturday night, though the comeback came up short.
Now, the Crusaders get ready to head on the road for four-straight weeks, starting with a trip to Strasburg on Friday night.
"We're on what I'm calling our road gauntlet," Central head coach Greg Bahen said. "We've got four-straight road games, two long bus trips in a row, starting at Strasburg and then Rosecrans the following week.
"We'll get into a little bit of a routine, though, because they're all Friday games, so we won't lose that day of preparation with playing a Saturday-Friday like this week. So hopefully we'll get in a groove here and find our footing."
The Crusaders battled back from an early 14-0 hole to sit within a point early in the fourth quarter on Saturday night against Lucas.
While the run game was effective at times, especially in the second half, Central got both of its touchdowns via the air and missed on a couple more potential big pass plays.
While there is a benefit to the young group being back on the field and having some game tape to use to make adjustments, the routine is different for Week 2 with school starting and one less day to work with.
"it's kind of different now because we're playing on Friday instead of Saturday, so we have a short week," Bahen said. "We're back in school … so honestly, it's kind of like restarting again in a lot of ways, which is how we're structuring stuff."
Strasburg opened its season last week with a 43-14 win over St. Thomas Aquinas at home.
The Tigers went 8-4 a year ago and won a close battle with the Crusaders 20-12 at Harding Stadium. The Tigers also won the last meeting in Strasburg in 2024, 34-19.
Coming off facing Lucas, a team that uses a Wing-T, unconventional offense, the Tigers will be a different kind of challenge as they spread the field.
"They have really good skill guys," Bahen said. "They've got a good quarterback (Brody Hurst) that can move around in the pocket and extend plays, where I think he's really dangerous is doing that.
"He can run, but he really looks to scramble and keeps his eyes downfield really well. So, our DB's have got to stay in coverage, because their receivers move really well when he scrambles, and he likes to make broken plays. They got a really good receiver, (Ryan Becker), who's a good player, and everything kind of goes through him.
"It's way different than what we just went against. We just went against an offense where they're putting you in a phone booth, and the team we're facing this week is spreading you out. It's all empty, three-by-one, two-by-two, and they're really spreading it out and throwing the ball.
"It will be a challenge."
The opening kick Friday in Strasburg is set for 7 p.m.