DENIED – Catholic Central’s Jimmy Hernon pushes away River defender Beau Charlton for a few extra yards in Saturday’s Division VII, Region 27 playoff game at Harding Stadium. -André Grimm

STEUBENVILLE — A roller coaster of emotions doesn’t begin to describe the end of Saturday’s playoff showdown between River and Catholic Central.

Over the final six minutes of the Division VII, Region 27 opener, each team had a one-point lead and each had moments where it seemed like victory was within reach. In fact, Catholic Central has had several of these moments.

However, both teams responded in a thrilling finale and needed overtime to determine a winner, and the Crusaders made the necessary plays on both sides of the ball to escape with a 28-22 victory at Harding Stadium.

After Peyton Rauch recorded back-to-back sacks on third and fourth down to end River’s turn with the ball in overtime, Jimmy Hernon capped a five-play drive with his second touchdown of the night when Central (8-3) got the score. ball to bring the Crusaders to their first playoff victory since 2013.

“I am so proud of these children” » said Central head coach Eric Meek. “We were a little banged up and we fought, and you have to give credit to River for playing hard. It’s a great victory and now we move on.

“These players showed resilience and trust in each other. They love each other and it shows.

The drama began when No. 4 seed Central took a 16-14 lead with 5:56 to play with an 82-yard Matthew Sprochi run and a converted fake kick by Rauch for two points to his first lead of the match. .

The defense then appeared to have made a decisive stop on several occasions, only to see penalty flags give life to the No. 13 drivers.

On a fourth down play, a pass from River (4-7) fell incomplete for what appeared to be a decisive turnover on downs, but a personal foul was called on center safety Tommy Pergi for a hit on the receiver after the ball has been touched. hit the ground.

Another personal foul, this time for a late hit out of bounds, gave River another first down inside the 10, but again the Central defense held. Facing a fourth-and-goal from the Central 5 with less than three minutes remaining, River coach Mike Flannery used a timeout and elected to attempt a 21-yard field goal, which rolled wide to the left . However, the middle rusher that forced the kick to be rushed made contact with Pilots kicker Wyatt Majors, drawing another flag and another series of downs inside the 3.

River’s Lucas Dennis, who ran the ball 41 times for 178 yards in the game, scored on the next snap to put the Pilots back on top, 22-16.

Sprochi, however, gave Central life by returning the ensuing kickoff to the River 47, then Hernon broke free for a 21-yard run to the 26, although he fumbled at the A Crusader teammate, however, found the ball to keep Central alive, then three plays later, Pergi ran down the stretch to score the tying touchdown with 24 seconds left.

Central, who had converted two two-point plays earlier in the game, went for a kick to take the lead and missed, leaving the score at 22-22.

While neither team threw the ball as effectively, River used a little trickery in the passing game to nearly pull out a last-second victory as Peyton Blue lofted a deep ball down the line. touches towards Wyatt Stalder, who had headed towards the ball. as if he left the field and was discovered by the Crusader defense. He was found by a defender at the Central 30 after going 45 yards and the Pilots punted the ball with five seconds left, but a last-ditch pass to the end zone was broken up as the clock hit zero.

Rauch, who entered the game with 20 sacks in the regular season, made his two big plays and the Crusaders’ offense did not let up.

“It was a great game, I have a lot of respect for coach Meek and his team and they scored when they needed to,” Flannery, the veteran River coach, said. “They came back in the game and they made the plays at the end.

“I wish them the best for the future.”

As back-and-forth as the ending was, the first two-plus quarters were all River.

The Pilots, who ran the ball 63 times in the game, controlled the ball most of the first half, outscoring Central 162-76 and running 41 plays to the Crusaders’ 12 in the first two quarters with an advantage 12-4 first. stockings. And those numbers were even more lopsided before Central racked up 36 yards on the final two plays of the half.

“That first half we barely had the ball” Meek said. “River did what we like to do offensively, run the football and control the game, they had the ball for 18 of the 24 minutes. But our children held on. »

However, two 15-play drives by the Pilots in the first half stalled and ended in turnovers on downs in the middle, and despite the wide disparity in yards and plays run, they led only 6- 0 at halftime on a Stalder. 13-yard run occurred early in the second quarter.

“We had the ball for most of the first half, but we didn’t take advantage of it.” Flannery said. “Our game plan was to run with the ball and throw it if we had to. We just couldn’t get it done in overtime.

River extended its lead to 14-0 when Dennis returned a punt to the Central 10 early in the third quarter, setting up a 1-yard diving blue on a third-and-goal.

The Crusaders finally got something going on the next drive, as Pergi returned the ensuing kick to the river side and Hernon capped an eight-play drive with a 1-yard diving, running two points from Pergi, making it 14. -8 after three quarters.

The Crusader defense stopped River on a fourth down deep down the middle early in the fourth and again prevented the Pilots from ending a 13-play march before the sticks on the next drive, which set up places Sprochi’s explosive run to start the savagery. finishing.

“I am not disappointed by our children, they played hard” Flannery said. “I love our children. They showed a lot of character. It’s the kind of game you hate and where someone has to lose, but someone has to lose. It was a great football match.

“It was the first overtime game I’ve been to in probably 15 years.”

The Crusaders will host No. 5 seed Corning Miller next Saturday night at Harding Stadium in the second round. The Falcons are 9-2 and beat No. 12 Racine Southern 27-16 on Friday night.

“We get to spend at least one more week with these wonderful children, that’s the thing I’m happiest about,” Meek said. “We have 10 great, wonderful seniors and I didn’t want to say goodbye to them tonight.

“I’m glad I can go back to work tomorrow.”

OHSAA Division VII, Region 27 Playoffs

Opening round at Harding Stadium

No. 4 Catholic Center 28, No. 13 Hannibal River 22 (OT)

HR 0-6-8-8-0 – 22

CC 0-0-8-14-6 – 28

MARKING GAMES

First trimester

None

Second trimester

HR: Stalder run 13 (broken pass) 10:49

Third trimester

HR: Blue 1 run (pass from Dennis from Blue) 8:53

CC: Hernon 1 run (Pergi run) 5:39

Fourth trimester

CC: Sprochi 82 race (Rauch race) 5:56

HR: Run from Dennis 2 (pass from Dennis from the Blues) 2:36

CC: Pergi 3 run (missed kick):24

Over time

CC: Hernon 1 run (no try)

RUSHING: Hannibal River 63-238-3TD (Stalder 8-53-TD; Johnson 4-19; Bennett 3-3; Blue 7-(-15)-TD; Dennis 41-178-TD); Catholic Center 36-265-4TD (Pergi 14-60-TD; Sprochi 6-123-TD; Hernon 16-82-2TD)

PASS: Hannibal River 3-11-50 (all by Blue); Catholic Center 1-4-6 (all from Sprochi)

RECEIVING: Hannibal River 3-50 (all by Stalder); Catholic Central 1-6 (all by Hough)

FIRST TESTS: Hannibal River 18; Central Catholic 11

PENALTIES-YARDS: Hannibal River 8-45; Catholic Center 5-46

LOST FUMLES: Hannibal River 2-0; Catholic Center 3-0