Central Catholic bounces back

Central Catholic player DeShone Kizer, 14, turns around Olmsted Falls player Brandon Friedrich, 34, during the first quarter at Gallagher Stadium in their Division II high school football playoff game. THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Central Catholic has lost three football games this season, and each time the Fighting Irish have bounced back in style with big wins.

The third of these came Friday night at Gallagher Stadium, where the Irish (8-3) stormed out of the gate early and never looked back in a dominant 48-19 victory over visiting Olmsted Falls (7-4) in a Division II regional playoff quarterfinal contest.

Junior running back Amir Edwards ran 19 times for 85 yards and scored touchdowns on runs of 4, 8, 8, and 7 yards, and sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer was 6-for-6 passing for 154 yards a score.

PHOTO GALLERY: Central defeats Olmsted Falls 48-19.

Central's aggressive defense did the rest, containing Bulldogs quarterback Brennan Laird (240-yard passing average), and converting two of Laird's three turnovers (one interception) into scores.

"They're tough kids," Central Catholic's 12th-year coach Greg Dempsey said of his team. "They don't like to lose, but they learn from their losses. That's a key quality in a team. They evaluate themselves well, and they bounce back real well.

"It's awesome moving on [to the second round] with these kids. They're a group of seniors who a lot of people didn't think would be here right now. I'm very happy for them."

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The Irish will next face the top seed in Region 6, Avon (10-1), which advanced with a 45-24 win over Medina Highland Friday night. That second-round game will be played next Friday at 7:30 p.m. at a site to be determined.

Central's latest bounce-back win came on the heels of its 38-21 loss at unbeaten Whitmer seven nights earlier in a game that gave the Panthers an outright Three Rivers Athletic Conference title.

But Dempsey's resilient group erased that setback from its collective memory, just like they did after losses to Detroit Crockett and Findlay in weeks 1 and 5. In weeks 2 and 6 the Irish responded by beating Bedford 35-0 and Fremont Ross 28-14, respectively.

Nearly everything went well for Central in the first half, beginning with the opening kickoff, which Cedric Gray returned 40 yards to the Bulldogs' 30.

Six plays later, Edwards scored the first of his three first-half TDs on a four-yard run over left guard to put the Irish ahead 7-0 just 3:01 into the game.

"We just clicked all over the place," Edwards said. "Getting that start was big. We knew we had to come out and hit 'em in the mouth early and take the game over.

"DeShone was excellent. He stayed in the pocket and made big plays when we needed them."

Central found the end zone again on its second possession. Kizer hit Logan Lorenzen in stride over the middle at his 45 and Lorenzen did the rest on the 67-yard scoring play with 3:08 left in the first quarter.

"The offensive balance was great," Kizer said. "The o-line stepped up their game once again, and they played big and strong. The made holes for Amir Edwards and Derich Weiland to run, and they executed."

The Irish had the Bulldogs pinned back on their 1 after a Jake Suder punt, but Laird drove his team 99 yards on 13 plays for a TD.

On fourth-and-1 from the Irish 29, Laird (27-of-42 passing, 236 yards) ran a perfectly-executed naked bootleg around a wide-open right end and outran the only Central defender on that side, Jimmy Johnston, to the end zone 4:50 before halftime.

But Central's Jarvell Jones blocked the Bulldogs' extra-point kick, and the Irish scored two more TDs before the break.

Edwards capped a nine-play, 67-yard drive with an eight-yard TD run around left end with 1:37 left in the half.

Then, Olmsted Falls committed the only turnover of the half, and Central capitalized.

Irish tackle Jon Perrin sacked Laird, causing a fumble which was recovered by teammate Erik Johnston at the Bulldogs' 18. Two plays later, Edwards ran eight yards for another score with just 34.8 seconds left in the half.

After Laird's one-yard sneak capped a 16-play, 76-yard TD drive to open the third quarter, Central took a 35-12 lead on Edwards' final TD run of the night with 3:00 left in the period. Alex Padilla later intercepted a Laird pass and returned it 80 yards for a TD with 7:55 left in the final quarter.

"They were able to control the line of scrimmage," Bulldogs coach Jim Ryan said. "Their ability to put pressure on our quarterback with three and four rushers was the difference there.

"Offensively, they have a real nice running game. [Edwards] did a good job and their line did a good job of opening some holes for him."

Each team added TDs in the final six minutes, Olmsted Falls on Laird's 33-yard pass to Drew Meketa, and Central on Paul Moses' one-yard run.

The Bulldogs edged the Irish 340-331 yards in total offense.

Contact Steve Junga at: sjunga@theblade.com, 419-724-6461, or on Twitter @JungaBlade.