Catholic Central pulls away from Oak Glen for 63-28 victory
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STEUBENVILLE -- Saturday's Catholic Central-Oak Glen football game had a little of this, a little of that and a whole lot of scoring.
The Crusaders reeled off 28 unanswered second half points to earn a convincing 63-28 victory on a rainy Parents Nights at Harding Stadium.
"It was a good win for us," Central coach Steve Daley said after his Crusaders improved to 2-0 and won their sixth straight against the Golden Bears. "We got off to a little bit of a sluggish start, but I liked the way we finished. Give credit to Oak Glen, their kids played hard for four quarters. They are a young team but they're on an upswing.
"I was happy with how our kids bounced back. We made the adjustments we needed to make and were able to come out on top in this one.
After Craig Smith's 30 yard scoring burst put the hosts ahead 35-21 early in the third quarter, Oak Glen responded immediately, marching 70 yards. The touchdown came on a pretty 21-yard pass from freshman quarterback Nick Chaney to sophomore receiver Zach Taylor. Collin Williams' kick made it 35-28.
From there, it was all Central.
Justin Hartzell hit Geno DiBiase for a 16-yard score. Smith scooted 58 yards for a touchdown and Anthony Fallon delivered a 60-yard pick six. Smith would score again early in the fourth quarter from three yards away. His third touchdown came following DiBiase's interception of a Chaney aerial.
The OHSAA's mercy rule kicked in after Smith's final six-pointer.
Oak Glen, which hosts Buckeye Local Friday, opened the scoring when Chaney plowed in from a yard out. The touchdown, OG's first of the season, came two plays after Jaden Glenn blocked Matt Bell's punt.
Central answered quickly, moving 72 yards in five plays. Hartzell found Levi Thompson in the right flat. The senior broke one tackle, then sprinted 46 yards to the end zone. Jarred Roberts, who was a perfect nine for nine on extra points, nailed the conversion kick to tie things at seven.
The Golden Bears struck again on the first play of the second quarter, Chaney again sneaking in from a yard out. This time, Central needed just three plays to tie the score. After Hartzell gained 11 yards running, he got the ball to Thompson on a shovel pass. He cut to his left and traveled 32 yards for the touchdown.
Daley's crew took the lead for good on Thompson's four yard run with 8:34 to go before the half. An interception by Amin Butler, he also recorded a crucial fumble recovery, put Central back in business in the Oak Glen end of the field. Hartzell got another scoring toss, via a 20-yard hooking up with Dom Argentine.
Central appeared to be heading for another score when Oak Glen's defense came up big. Michael Lemley picked off a Hartzell pass and sprinted 60 yards for a touchdown with 2:59 left before half. Williams' kick made it 28-21.
The Crusaders finished the game with 563 yards of offense (316 on the ground and 247 through the air). Hartzell completed 14 of 21 attempts.
"We mixed it up really well tonight," Daley stated. "I thought Justin did a nice job throwing the ball. We got into a rhythm and it was tough for them to slow us down once we hit that rhythm. We do need to work on eliminating mistakes--turnovers and penalties (the Crusaders drew eight flags for 70 yards). Those are things we can't have. They can slow us down and cost us.
"All of our guys offensively, the different weapons we have, had nice games tonight. When you have that many guys on the field you can go to--that makes us hard to defend."
Smith finished with 135 rushing yards and the three touchdowns. Thompson had 102 yards of offense while Fallon had 45 yards rushing and 92 yards receiving.
"It was a total team effort, we came out and did our thing," said Smith, the hard-running junior. "We had fun and we put points on the board. We know we have to keep working hard and keep improving.
"It's great, it feels wonderful to be 2-0."
Chaney finished with 264 yards passing for the Bears, now 0-2. Ethan Travis, Oak Glen's 6-5 junior tight end, had seven catches for 146 yards. Lemley and Gage Patterson had four grabs each.
"I did see some improvement tonight," said Oak Glen coach Ted Arneault Jr. "We took care of the ball a little better and didn't have as many turnovers. Hand it to Catholic Central. They have a good football team with a nice, big line. They took us out of our game plan. We weren't able to run the ball so we had to spread it out and throw it more."
The visitors finished with a negative 33 yards on 16 rushing attempts.
"Number 83 (Travis) is a ball player," Daley stressed. "You can't coach size but along with that size he has a lot of ability. He had a great night."
Arneault said his Golden Bears were able to take advantages of "some mismatches Central was giving us."
"We tried to exploit them the best we could," he continued. "I thought Chaney threw the ball well at times. I have to hand it to our offensive line. They protected him well and gave us a chance to throw. We did make some plays tonight."
Central will hit the road Friday, traveling to Berlin Western Reserve.
Steubenville Catholic Central 63, Oak Glen 28
Oak Glen 7 14 7 0
Central 7 21 28 7
OAK GLEN: Chaney 1 run (Williams kick)
CENTRAL: Thompson 46 pass from Hartzell (Roberts kick)
OAK GLEN: Chaney 1 run (Williams kick)
CENTRAL: Thompson 32 pass from Hartzell (Roberts kick)
CENTRAL: Thompson 4 run (Roberts kick)
CENTRAL: Argentine 20 pass from Hartzell (Roberts kick)
OAK GLEN: Lemley 60 interception return (Williams kick)
CENTRAL: Smith 30 run (Roberts kick)
OAK GLEN: Taylor 21 pass from Chaney (Williams kick)
CENTRAL: DiBiase 16 pass from Hartzell (Roberts kick)
CENTRAL: Smith 58 run (Roberts kick)
CENTRAL: Fallon 51 interception return (Roberts kick)
CENTRAL: Smith 3 run (Roberts kick)
RUSHING: Oak Glen 16-(-33)-2 (N. Chaney 6-(-24)-2; Almo 3-0; Glenn 2-(-7); Williams 2-(-3); Brown 2-6; Weekly 1-(-3)); Central 41-316-4 (Hartzell 11-53; Smith 11-135-3; Thompson 3-13-1; Fayak 5-22; Fallon 4-45; Lefever 3-22; Keeder 4-26).
PASSING: Oak Glen 18-40-264-1-3x (N. Chaney 18-39-264-0-3x; J. Chaney 0-1); Central 14-21-247-4-1x (all by Hartzell).
RECEIVING: Oak Glen 18-264-1 (Travis 7-146; Taylor 2-27-1; Lemley 4-46; Glenn 1-5; Patterson 4-40); Central 14-247-4 (Butler 1-21; DiBiase 1-16-1; Fallon 5-92; Fayak 1-(-5); Smith 1-3; Thompson 3-89-2; Argentine 2-41-1).
FIRST DOWNS: Oak Glen 12; Central 22.
PENALTIES-YARDS: Oak Glen 7-55; Central 8-70.
PUNTS: Oak Glen 5-28; Central 2-14.
FUMBLES-LOST: Oak Glen 3-1; Central 2-1.