CAUGHT FOR YARDS — Catholic Central’s Tommy Pergi fights for yards while surrounded by Connoton Valley defenders during Saturday night’s game at Harding Stadium. – Andrew Grimm
STEUBENVILLE — Going into the fourth quarter, Catholic Central was locked in a battle with Region 27 foe Conoton Valley.
But in the fourth quarter, the visiting Rockets scored 20 straight points and won 47-26 inside Harding Stadium.
Conoton Valley held a 27-26 lead after the third quarter after Central’s comeback. The Rockets’ high-powered offense stole the show, but with the game going on and many playoff points on the line, it was the defense that made the difference, intercepting three passes and leading the Crusaders to the Final 12. Moved away from the scoreboard. A few minutes until that attack settles things.
“It was a really good elementary school soccer game until the end.” Central head coach Eric Meek said. “Give (Connoton Valley) credit, they have a great team. I thought our kids played really hard, although maybe the final score didn’t show it. It was two good small school football teams playing extremely hard.
“They had an unbelievable passing attack and the defense was great as well. I was impressed with that.”
Both teams now have 6 wins and 3 losses. According to Joe Eitel’s unofficial rankings Saturday night, Central, which entered the game ranked third in the region, fell to fourth, while the Rockets moved from sixth to fifth in the region.
Eitel led Central to at least one home playoff game win, but the loss ended the winning streak at nine. The Rockets also clinched a home playoff game with a win.
“We’re good. Senior week is next week and the kids are ready to go back to work.” Meek said. “We have another game here next week and there’s a chance we’ll have at least one more game after that, so it’s not over yet. We can still play some football and we’ll be fine.”
Connoton Valley quarterback Zach Putnam is a fourth-year starter who completed 26-of-44 for 365 passing yards, threw four touchdowns to four different receivers, and went for two more scores. The rush continued. He also had a long pass score negated by a holding penalty.
Gavin Haney had a night of over 250 yards, completing nine passes for 152 yards and a score, and rushing for 105 yards and another TD. Brooks Bower also surpassed the century mark with 130 receptions on eight grabs.
The Rockets had 488 yards of total offense.
The Crusaders’ running game also had big moments, gaining 295 yards and all four of Central’s scores. Tommy Pergi broke up a 74-yard scoring run for 123 on 10 carries, and Matthew Sproch gave Central two 100-yard rushers with 108 on nine carries, including a 78-yard score. Jimmy Hernon hit the end zone twice.
Defensively, Central had four sacks, including one from Peyton Rauch, for a total loss of 50 yards, but there were several other plays that came close to Putnam. But the problem was that when he passed, they found quick targets.
After a bit of a slow start, Putnam took the lead midway through the first quarter with a 25-yard scoring run to Haney, and responded with a 4-yard scoring run from Hernon on the ensuing Central drive.
Putnam took a 14-6 lead late in the first quarter on Cam Wright’s 26-yard scoring run. Putnam gained 126 yards and two scores in that first quarter.
With 4:40 left in the first half, Bower hit a 62-yard strike, increasing the lead to 21-6.
Central began a rally by putting together a long scoring drive to end the first half, with Hernon scoring a 2-yard dive into the end zone followed by Pergi’s conversion run to make it 21-14 at halftime.
After the defense forced a turnover on downs in their own half, the Crusaders got within one point two plays later when Sproche broke up a long scoring run and a missed kick put the Rockets up 21-20.
Putnam, who had 222 yards at halftime, hit a 64-yard pass before the play and then crossed from yards out to extend the lead again, but the kick was blocked and the deficit fell to seven points. It remained.
Pergi then broke his long scoring streak with time running out in the third quarter, and his conversion pass attempt for the lead with a fake kick fell incomplete, giving the Rockets a one-point lead once again.
But that was as close as the Crusaders came to taking the lead.
In the fourth quarter, Putnam hit Garrett Reiter for 6 yards for a 3-yard score, and Haney had a 31-yard scoring run, scoring the only Rockets TD that Putnam didn’t account for. . The last two were recorded later. Interception by Kayden Leggett. Reiter also picked off a pass in the final seconds of the game to close out the game.
to the next
Conoton Valley: The 6-2 Madonnas, competing for a playoff spot in West Virginia, return to Bowerstown to host another local team for a visit Friday night.
Catholic Central: Will close out the regular season next Saturday night at Harding Stadium when they host Pittsburgh City League team Carrick (3-5). A win is likely needed to remain in the top four of the region.
Conoton Valley 47, Catholic Central 26
Resume 14-7-6-20 – 47
CC 6-8-12-0 – 26
Scoring the play
1st quarter
CV: Haney 25 Pass from Putnam (hot kick) 5:56
CC: Hernon 4 runs (missed pass) 2:37
CV: Wright 26 Pass from Putnam (hot kick) 1:10
2nd quarter
CV: Bower 62 pass from Putnam (hot kick) 4:40
CC: Hernon 2 runs (Pergyran): 21
3rd quarter
CC: Sproki 78 runs (kick failure) 8:10
CV: Putnam 1 run (missed kick): 44
CC: Pergi 74 runs (failure to pass) :00
4th quarter
CV: Reiter 6 passes from Putnam (hot kick) 8:01
CV: Haney 31 runs (missed pass) 5:38
CV: Putnam 3 runs (hot kick) 1:59
Rush: Conoton Valley 28-123-3TD (Putnam 17-16-2TD; Wright 2-2; Haney 9-105-TD); Catholic Central 38-295-4TD (Pergi 10-123-TD; Sproki 9-108-TD ; Hernon 19-64-2TD)
Passed: Conoton Valley 26-44-365-4TD (all by Putnam). Catholic Central 5-14-36-3INT (all by Sprochi)
Reception: Conoton Valley 26-365-4TD (Bower 8-130-TD; Wright 5-69-TD; Haney 9-152-TD; Reiter 3-19-TD); Catholic Central 5-36 (Hough 2-11; Pergi 1-13; Hernon 2-12)
First down: Conoton Valley 20; Catholic Central 11
Penalty Yards: Conoton Valley 5-40; Catholic Central 8-90
Fumbles Lost: Conoton Valley 1-0; Catholic Central 0-0
Get today’s latest news and more delivered to your inbox
