“All of a sudden we had a big influx of sophomores. They’re not very experienced at football but they’re learning,” McKenna said.
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Few, if any, will see action Friday night when Catholic Central (3-3, 1-0 Ohio Heritage Conference) travels to Greenon (1-4, 0-1) for an OHC South Division game. They will play Saturday as Catholic Central suits up for first junior varsity game in several seasons.
“I’m excited for them to see how they do,” McKenna said. “They started sprinkling out a little at a time. The sophomores kind of got together and they were worried we might not have a program next year. They didn’t want to see the program die so they wanted to keep it going even though they don’t know much about football. It was pretty noble of them.”
Though the freshman class has just two players this season, McKenna said the junior high has about 24 players and the youth program is solid.
Senior leadership has been strong this season with quarterback Colin Kelly, running back and safety Dominic DeWitt, defensive end Jake Lyons and fullback and linebacker Dominic “Deece” Catanzaro.
Catholic Central has beaten the teams it should, but haven’t haven’t been able to pull off an upset against the teams they shouldn’t considering their numbers – both players and division size. Four of Central’s first six games were against teams in Division IV or Division V.
Of their remaining games two are against Division V teams (Greenon and Greeneview) and two are Division VII (Southeastern and Cedarville).
“I think it would mean the world to the kids,” McKenna said of qualifying for the playoffs. “I always thought we could if we won the right games. I don’t know if 6-4 will get us in but 7-3 would. We are just trying to do the best we can.”
Catholic Central is coming off an emotional 42-22 win against Madison Plains last week. Prior to the game the football team gathered with the volleyball team to honor classmate Carly DeLong, who died Sept. 23 after a battle with leukemia. McKenna said the option to postpone the game was considered.
“I wasn’t sure until the game started how we would play. But they were so focused,” McKenna said.
McKenna said he’s still looking for a complete game from the Irish. He’s hoping it comes in three weeks against undefeated Greeneview. A win over the Rams would certainly propel the Irish into the postseason.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge because I want to compete against the best. I’m trying to get these guys convinced they can compete against them,” McKenna said.
• Southeastern junior receiver Charlie Bertemis has had the hot hand for the Trojans. Last week he hauled in nine catches for 127 yards and a touchdown in a 54-22 win against Cedarville. The week before in a 27-26 loss to Fairbanks Bertemis had 10 catches for 223 yards and four touchdowns.
His hot streak started in Week 4. Bertemis grabbed seven passes for 157 yards and three touchdowns to in one game surpass all the catches he had combined from his freshman and sophomore seasons.
Bertemis has 33 catches for 668 yards (an average of 20.2 yards per catch) with nine touchdowns and five two-point conversions. Eight of those touchdowns have come in his last three games.
• Greeneview beat Greenon 63-20 last week. And of all the touchdowns scored, the favorite for Greeneview coach Ryan Haines didn’t come from his team. Greenon’s Seth Simon, who has Autism, scored a rushing touchdown the fourth quarter in a show of sportsmanship from both programs.
Simon did something few teams have against the Rams. Greeneview has outscored opponents 242-62 entering tonight’s game with Southeastern.
As for the Rams, they’re averaging 278 yards per game behind the three-headed attack of Griffin Mangan, Clay Payton and quarterback Nick Clevenger.
• Two of the Greater Western Ohio Conference’s top quarterbacks square off when Springfield (5-1) hosts Northmont (4-2) on Friday night.
Northmont’s Miles Johnson ranks second in the GWOC with 1,482 yards passing. He’s completed 110-of-181 passes for 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions. The Wildcats counter with Leonard Taylor’s 1,093 yards. He’s completed 78-of-139 attempts with nine touchdowns and four interceptions.
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