HOME STAND CONTINUES — Catholic Central will look to bounce back this week when it plays its second of four-straight home games, welcoming Zanesville Rosecrans to Harding Stadium on Saturday night. - Andrew Grimm

STEUBENVILLE — After a strong first half last week, Catholic Central dropped its first loss of the season Saturday night when visiting Strasburg surged ahead in the second half for a 20-12 victory.

The Crusaders led the game 12-6 at halftime and had out-gained the Tigers by more than a 2-1 margin to that point, which left veteran coach Eric Meek optimistic about what he saw from his youthful group despite the tough loss.

They’ll look to build on those positives this week when they host another tough opponent in Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans on Saturday night at Harding Stadium.

“I really feel that we played better than we did Week 1,” Meek said. “I think we improved despite the loss. The first half I thought we played really well. Strasburg only had 29 offensive plays, because we really controlled the ball in the first half.

“In the second half, after looking at it, we did some good things, but we got sacked a few times. We threw a couple of picks and that ended the drives, so we weren’t able to control the momentum against a veteran football team that beat us handily the year before. I think overall we played really well. I thought we played hard, but we did make some mistakes.

“We’ve had a good week of practice and we’re ready for Rosecrans Saturday.”

In Week 2, Central QB Matthew Sprochi rushed for more than 100 yards if you take away a couple of sacks for big losses in the fourth quarter. Ryan Holzworth and Kyran Busic each scored a TD on the ground in the loss to Strasburg.

Central rushed the ball 55 times while attempting 11 passes, a similar ground-and-pound formula that the Crusaders have used to great success since Meek took over a few years ago.

Rosecrans comes in with a 2-0 record, having beaten Beachwood 42-8 in Week 1 and New London 36-18 in the second week, both on the road.

Last year, Central won an 8-7 thriller in Zanesville. The Crusaders captured a 28-14 victory two years ago the last time the teams met at Harding Stadium.

Meek expects another close battle this time around.

“The last four years they’ve been great games, they’ve all pretty much come down to the wire and it’s a really good rivalry,” Meek said. “It’s two small Catholic schools playing against one another and we’re glad we have them at home so we don’t have to take the bus trip. It should be a really good football game.”

As for what stands out about the Bishops, the veteran coach had a simple answer.

“They’ve got good speed,” Meek said about Rosecrans. “Their skill positions are guys that have been there for a few years. I think offensively they can really cause some problems with their speed.”

Last year’s win was a big bounce back coming off a loss to Strasburg, which propelled Central to strong finish to the season and a return trip to the playoffs. They’ll be looking for a similar bounce back this time around.

“I think the kids have had a good attitude this week,” Meek said of them being able to bounce back. “We lifted hard (Wednesday). We practiced hard and I think they’re ready to get back at it. I think it was kind of a building block of our program a week ago. And, I told the kids you’ve got to suffer once in a while before you have some success, it’s a part of life.

“Last year’s team bounced back from a loss and hopefully we can continue to do that. We just want to improve on our mistakes, cut down on the turnovers, and play good special teams and hopefully we can get to 2-1.”