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STEUBENVILLE -- The Catholic Central football team's win streak continued last week as they overcame some adversity and ultimately made it four-straight wins and five in their last six with a 34-18 victory at Bridgeport.
"It was a good win," Central head coach Greg Bahen said. "It was kind of a crazy ending to the first half. We were in control of the game up 14-0, they scored twice with pretty much under a minute and 20 seconds left. And then we responded in the second half and really took control and dominated the second half and pulled away. It was a good team win.
"It was good to see our ability to respond. We went into halftime and we were kind of reeling, so it's good, being young, being able to come out and respond like that. We went right down the field and scored and kind of never looked back and just really took control of the game."
This week, the Crusaders have perhaps what can be viewed as a de facto playoff game as they welcome Conotton Valley to Harding Stadium on Saturday night.
The Crusaders enter the matchup at No. 14 in Division VII, Region 27, two spots on the outside looking in of the playoff race.
The Rockets (5-3) are No. 8 in the region, trying to earn a home game in the playoffs and have not clinched yet, making the game as big as it gets for both teams.
"It's been circled on our calendar," Bahen said of the Conotton Valley game. "Our kids have done a good job just kind of staying in the moment and taking it day by day, practice by practice, game by game and not looking ahead. But it's definitely something they're aware of. They know it's a big game. They know the implications, so we just need to have a good week of practice and focus on the task at hand and do our job.
"I like our chances. I think it'll be a good matchup. Both teams have good athletes that are going to match up, so it should be a great game."
The Rockets run a unique offense, as they have thrown the ball 260 times this season and ran it just 104 times. They average 309 passing yards and just 35 rushing yards per game.
Senior QB Kaden Leggett has completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 2,471 yards and 29 touchdowns. He averages over 300 yards per game and nearly 15 yards per attempt.
He has completed passes to nine different receivers, led by Garrett Reiter's 67 catches for 1,093 yards and 13 touchdowns and RJ Higgenbotham's 59 catches for 719 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Reiter also has three rushing scores.
"They're really good at what they do. They kind of found their niche running the five wide, empty stuff," Bahen said. "Their quarterback is really good, throws it on time, gets the ball out of his hands quickly. They're undersized up front, but it's really hard to get pressure on them because he just gets rid of it so fast. And the receivers all seem to be on the same page with him. They've got two or three really good high school wide receivers that can make plays after the catch and catch jump balls, so it'll be a big challenge for our defense."
The Crusaders and Rockets have a couple of common opponents as both have wins over Bishop Rosecrans and Bridgeport and both have a loss to Strasburg on their record.
The Rockets average 38.8 points per game and allow an average of 23.8. Central, meanwhile, is scoring 25 points per game and allowing an average of 19.1.