HITTING THE HOLE — Catholic Central’s BJ Fallon finds room to run behind blocks during Saturday night’s game against Carrick at Harding Stadium. Fallon had a three touchdown night to help Central prevail, 30-0. -- Andrew Grimm

STEUBENVILLE — Catholic Central’s defensive unit certainly earned their fish dinners on Saturday night.

The Crusaders defense scored the first points of the game, pitched their third shutout of the season, second in a row, and held visiting Carrick to just 74 yards yards of offense for a dominant, 30-0 win on homecoming night at Harding Stadium.

“Once again our defense played really well against an athletic team,” Catholic Central head coach Eric Meek said. “That’s a team that has scored some points despite their record. Our defense has been strong all year, I’m very proud of these guys.

“It’s big to win on homecoming, it’s great for this group, especially our seniors. The festivities are absolutely a lot more fun when you win. We’re looking forward to the fish fry (held at the school after the game).”

The victory continues Central’s best start in over a decade as they improve to 7-0.

The Crusaders pressured Carrick (0-6) quarterback Zion Frye all night, sacking him four times for a combined loss of 26 yards and forced him to scramble on several other passing plays.

Peyton Rauch was involved in three of those sacks. The first was on the Raiders first offensive snap resulted in a safety for the game’s first points.

Offensively, the Crusaders utilized the pass more than they had in a few weeks, which Meek noted was the plan, and scored on three-straight drives to take full control of the game.

Tyler Ialenti went 7 of 13 for 94 yards with a touchdown, while hitting five different targets. He also rushed the ball 15 times for 62 yards.

“We did what we had to do offensively,” Meek said. “We tried to work on our passing game a little more. We know we’re going to have to be able to throw the ball. Earlier in the year we were able to throw the ball very effectively, we just haven’t had to throw it much lately.

“We were able to work on our passing the running game was effective again. Overall it was a solid performance and we’re glad to be 7-0, and glad to be healthy.”

BJ Fallon found the end zone three times, hauling in a 33-yard touchdown pass and scoring on runs of 2 and 9 yards. He finished with 39 receiving yards and 42 on the ground.

Tommy Pergi rushed for 90 yards on nine totes and had 21 receiving yards to round out the Crusaders’ three-pronged offensive attack.

All in all, Central ran for 227 and had 321 yards of offense, 203 of which came in the opening half with the running clock in effect for most of the second half.

After the Crusaders’ opening drive stalled, a good punt pinned Carrick deep and Frye was pulled down in the end zone for a safety on the Raiders’ first offensive snap to make it 2-0 Central.

Then special teams contributed to the Crusaders taking over completely.

Pergi returned the ensuing free kick deep into the Carrick end for a short field to set up the 33-yard Ialtenti-to-Fallon strike on what was a fourth down.

Then, on the ensuing kickoff, the Crusaders stripped the ball from the Carrick return man and recovered the fumble for another short field. After Central converted another fourth down, Fallon plunged in from the 2 on the next play to make it 16-0 before the Raiders ran a second offensive play.

After a promising Carrick march was halted by penalties, Central marched 81 yards on eight plays, capped by Fallon’s 9-yarder, to make it 23-0 at the half.

After Arabella Bloomer was crowned homecoming queen during the break, the Crusader defense forced a punt on the first Carrick drive of the second half and the offense again went eight plays to score on the ensuing drive, capped by Pergi breaking free for an 18-yard score which started the running clock.

“We’re playing football as a team right now,” Meek said. “This is a great group of kids. They’re not selfish, they don’t care who’s getting the ball, they want the team to succeed. They respect their opponents in victory or defeat. I’m very, very proud of this group.”

UP NEXT

Carrick: Takes on Perry Traditional Academy at home on Thursday.

Catholic Central: Welcomes Bridgeport on senior night for its final home game at the regular season on Saturday.