CCHS Football Game Results

Friday, September 3, 2010

West Lafayette Ridgewood 48, Steubenville Catholic Central 0

WRAP-UP from steubenvillecentralcrusaders.com, published 9/5/2010

Crusaders Face Another Tough Test At Ridgewood

Written by Mario Saggio

The Steubenville Catholic Central Crusaders look to rebound from an opening-night loss to Bridgeport when they take to the road to face a very strong Ridgewood team, fresh off a 61-14 rout over Buckeye Trail in their opener.

The two programs have met only once before, when Ridgewood defeated the Crusaders 34-7 at Harding Stadium last year.

Despite last week’s loss to a powerful Bridgeport squad, there were some bright spots for the young Crusaders. Freshman Brenton Colabella showed poise and toughness in his first varsity start, completing six of 12 passes for 71 yards, and leading the Crusaders on a 94-yard scoring drive.

Junior Jon Emmerling snagged three of Colabella’s passes for 36 yards, in addition to leading the Crusader ground attack with 65 yards rushing on 16 carries. Senior fullback Cody Lynskey added 56 yards to the Crusader ground game.

Junior Jimmy Panella scored the Crusaders’ lone touchdown on a one-yard run.

Juniors Brannt Pieniazek, B.J. Grandinetti and Alex Bednar all had one reception each.

Four lost fumbles, including one deep in Bridgeport territory, hampered the Crusader effort last week.

Ridgewood, on the other hand, rolled to a 41-0 halftime lead en route to their season-opening win. The Generals piled up 357 yards rushing out of their Wing-T offense (and another 71 passing) - on only 29 plays - for an incredible average of nearly 18 yards per play.

Senior Nick Belick paced the Generals with 116 yards on 4 carries, including touchdown runs of 31 and 58 yards, as well as an 82-yard kickoff return for a score, and a fumble recovery on defense.

Senior Jay McVey hauled in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Senior QB Kevin Davis, in addition to ripping off a 60-yard scoring run.

Adding to the Generals’ scoring brigade with rushing touchdowns were seniors Jared Conrad, Richard Hawthorne and juniors Trent Lingo and Leonard Davidson (who also added an interception).

Defensively, Ridgewood’s speedy 4-4 defense limited Buckeye Trail to one first down against their first-team unit.

John Slusser is in his sixth year as head coach at Ridgewood, leading the Generals to the playoffs in each of his first five seasons while compiling an impressive 49-9 record. Last year, he led the Generals to the OHSAA D5 semifinals against eventual state champion Youngstown Ursuline.

Other than finishing second to Malvern in 2008, Ridgewood has captured the Inter Valley Conference title every year since 2003, losing a total of two league games in that time.

Kickoff for Friday night’s game in West Lafayette is set for 7:00. There is no presale of tickets, which will be available at the stadium.

RIDGEWOOD TOO MUCH FOR YOUNG CRUSADERS

Written by Mario Saggio

Looking to rebound from a season-opening loss to Bridgeport, the Steubenville Catholic Central Crusaders found the road to be not so kind, suffering a 48-0 defeat at Ohio Division 5 powerhouse Ridgewood, who moved to 2-0 on the 2010 season with the win.

The potent General rushing attack, like Bridgeport the week before, scored on their first play from scrimmage, propelling them to a 35-0 halftime lead en route to the shutout victory.

Senior Jared Conrad’s 61-yard burst started the Ridgewood onslaught, giving them an early 7-0 lead after sophomore Brett Mitchell’s extra point. Forcing the Crusaders to punt after three plays, the Generals and Conrad struck again, this time on a 43-yard pass from Kevin Davis and another conversion by Mitchell.

The Generals got their third score in as many possessions on a 4-yard toss from Davis to junior tight end Evan Jones with 5:32 still left in the first quarter. Mitchell’s P.A.T. upped the lead to 21-0.

The Crusaders had two scoring opportunities after a pair of Generals’ miscues - a botched snap on a punt and a fumble - deep in Ridgewood territory. The young Crusader offense was unable to convert either into points, though, and the Generals put the game away by halftime with an 84-yard scoring run by senior Nick Bellik and a 5-yard jaunt by junior Trent Lingo.

The second half saw Davis throw his third touchdown pass of the night, hitting senior Jay McVay from 12 yards out before junior Leonard Davidson closed out the scoring on an 8-yard run with 2:30 left in the third quarter.

Ridgewood finished the night with 311 yards rushing, paced by Bellik, who tallied 142 yard and Conrad, who added 65. Both also added a pair of receptions to a Generals’ aerial attack that saw Davis complete nine of 11 passes for 109 yards.

The Crusaders only managed 150 yards total offense, hampered for the second week in a row by four turnovers.

Junior Dave Bertoia led the Crusaders with 31 yards rushing, while freshman quarterback Brenton Colabella completed six of 13 passes for 41 yards. Junior Brannt Pieniazek latched onto four aerials for 38 yards to pace the Crusaders.

Catholic Central returns to action Saturday night at Harding Stadium against defending West Virginia Class A Champion Weirton Madonna, who is 2-0 on the season, and coming off their 27th consecutive regular season victory, a 56-0 rout of Paden City.