Central Spoils Senior Night, Louisville Finishes 5-5 – Varsity Football

Central Catholic 26, Louisville 22

The Louisville Leopards Varsity Football Team fell to the Canton Central Catholic Crusaders 26-22 on Senior Night Friday at Louisville Leopards Stadium. With the loss, Louisville finishes the 2019 campaign with a record of 5-5.

Senior Quarterback Colton Jones finished 21 of 31 for 253 yards and threw 3 touchdowns to lead the Leopards. Senior Wide Receiver Grayson Beamer was his top target with 6 catches for 131 yards and a 24 yard touchdown reception that gave Louisville a 15-14 lead at the half. Jones also connected with Senior Jason Goard on a 3 yard touchdown pass to open the scoring in the first quarter and Senior Wide Receiver Ryan Pukys on a 14 yard connection early on in the third quarter.

Louisville In Command After Two 3rd Quarter Interceptions

Pukys setup his own touchdown by jumping a route on Central’s opening drive of the second half. He returned the interception 33 yards to the Crusader 11 yard line. Two plays later, Jones rolled to his left off play action and found Pukys wide open in the middle of the endzone. That put the Leopards in the driver’s seat leading 22-14 with 9:51 left to play in the third quarter.

Central drove into the Louisville redzone on their ensuing drive. But Leopards Senior Defensive Lineman Blake Robbins stormed into the backfield for a sack dropping the Crusaders into a 3rd-and-15. On the next play, Goard intercepted a short check down pass and rumbled 44 yards into Central territory to the 32 yard line to setup LHS in prime field position.

Leopards Barred By Penalties, Can’t Capitalize

Louisville appeared to have all the momentum and went for the knockout punch. Jones went long for Senior Wide Receiver Davis Burick who made a leaping grab for what appeared to be a 27 yard touchdown. However, there was contact on the play and the ref ruled offensive pass interference on the Leopards pushing them back to the Crusader 42. The same duo appeared to convert a 4th-and-12 a few plays later, but a holding penalty brought it back again. Louisville was forced to punt on 4th-and-27 as a result.

Central Rallies with Two Fourth Quarter Touchdowns

This series of unfortunate events for the Leopards seemed to shift the momentum back to the Crusaders for the rest of the game. They marched 70 yards on 10 plays on their next drive to get within 22-20 early on in the fourth quarter. Senior Runningback Chase Miller received a short pass from Quarterback Austin Beck and scored from 12 yards away. Pukys would bat away the conversion try to preserved the Louisville lead with 10:20 to go.

The Leopards elected to go for it on 4th-and-5 from their own 44 on the next drive. The decision backfired as Central Catholic’s Junior Defensive Lineman Ethan Kestel Porter intercepted  a pass over the middle at the LHS 46 yard line.

With the short field, the Crusaders turned that takeaway into points to take the lead. Miller capped off the 6 play, 45 yard drive with his second touchdown run of the game from 4 yards out. Louisville Seniors Austen Black, Robbins, and Max Stamey converged to plug the middle and stop Beck on the conversion run to keep the score at 26-22 with 6:13 left in the contest.

Louisville Turned Away on Final Drive

The Leopards put together a promising drive in response and looked poised to recapture the lead late in the fourth quarter. Jones hit Beamer and Senior Wide Receiver Carter Rode for first down completions before Adelman ran for 6 yards into the redzone moving the chains again. On 3rd-and-6 from the 10 yard line, Louisville ran a sweep to the left but Central Senior Defensive Lineman Nathan Fox snuffed it out dropping the ball carrier for a 5 yard loss. The following 4th-and-12 pass was batted away by Junior Defensive Back Danny Heck in the back left corner of the endzone and the Crusaders retained possession with 2:11 to play.

Central essentially ran the clock out from there. The backbreaker was a Beck to Miller 6 yard first down completion on 3rd-and-4 to move the sticks and earn another series of downs. The Crusaders milked the clock down to 8 seconds before punting the ball on the final play. Central’s punt coverage stopped the returner at the LHS 42 and the season ended.

Five Crusaders Rush for 20+ Yards

The Crusaders finished with a 336-303 edge in total yards for the game and a 22-15 advantage in first downs. Central also out-gain Louisville on the ground 154-50 as five different Crusader players tallied over 20 yards rushing. Senior Runningback Logan Walton was the game’s leading rusher with 5 carries for 43 yards. Senior Wide Receiver Joe Boron and Miller both had 37 yards rushing each as well. Adelman led the Leopards on the ground with 10 carries for 35 yards.

Beck also completed 19 of 28 passes for 182 yards and threw a pair of touchdowns for Central. Miller was his top target with 5 catches for 48 yards. Sophomore Wide Receiver Riley Campbell also made 4 receptions for 46 yards. Back in the second quarter, Beck hit Campbell for a 25 yard touchdown on 3rd-and-5 to give CCHS their first lead of the game at 14-8 lead.

Central’s 1st Win Over Louisville Since 1979

This the Crusaders first victory over the Leopards since a 12-10 win at Central on October 6, 1979. Louisville still leads the all-time series 12-2-1, which includes a 7-1 record at home in the series.

Despite missing the chance at a winning season with the loss, the Leopards complete their 30th consecutive season without a losing record.

Central Catholic Crusaders at Louisville Leopards Scoring Summary

CRUSADERS 26, LEOPARDS 22

Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL

Central 7-7-0-12–26

Louisville 8-7-7-0–22

1st Quarter

LOUISVILLE  – Jason Goard 3 Yard Pass from Colton Jones (Colton Jones Pass from Davis Burick) | LHS 8, CCHS 0, 8:42
11 Plays, 61 Yards

CENTRAL CATHOLIC – Chase Miller 1 Yard Run (Matt Kling Kick) | LHS 8, CCHS 7, 3:05
13 Plays, 62 Yards

2nd Quarter

CENTRAL CATHOLIC – Riley Campbell 25 Yard Pass from Austin Beck (Matt Kling Kick) | LHS 8, CCHS 14, 5:42
9 Plays, 62 Yads

LOUISVILLE – Grayson Beamer 24 Yard Pass from Colton Jones (Myles Lab Kick) | LHS 15, CCHS 14, 2:44

3rd Quarter

LOUISVILLE – Ryan Pukys 14 Yard Pass from Colton Jones (Myles Lab Kick) | LHS 22, CCHS 14, 9:51
2 Plays, 11 Yards

4th Quarter

CENTRAL CATHOLIC – Chase Miller 12 Yard Pass from Austin Beck (Pass Failed) | LHS 22, CCHS 20, 10:20
10 Plays, 70 Yards

CENTRAL CATHOLIC – Chase Miller 4 Yard Run (Run Failed) | LHS 22, CCHS 26, 6:13
6 Plays, 45 Yards

Records: Central Catholic 6-4, Louisville 5-5

Central Catholic Crusaders at Louisville Leopards Team Stats

First Downs:
Louisville: 15 (4 Rushing, 10 Passing, 1 Penalty)
Central: 22 (11 Rushing, 10 Passing, 1 Penalty)

Rushing:
Louisville: 20 Carries, 50 Yards
Central: 37 Carries, 154 Yards, 2 Touchdowns

Passing:
Louisville: 21 of 31 for 253 Yards, 3 Touchdowns, 1 Interception
Central: 19 of 28 for 182 Yards, 2 Touchdowns, 2 Interceptions

Fumbles/Lost:
Louisville: 0/0
Central: 0/0

Penalties/Yds:
Louisville: 10 for 93 Yards
Central: 4 for 30 Yards

3rd Down Conversions:
Louisville: 5 of 11
Central: 8 of 13

4th Down Conversions:
Louisville: 0 for 3
Central: 1 for 2

Central Catholic Crusaders at Louisville Leopards Individual Stats

Rushing

Louisville
Connor Adelman 10 Carries, 35 Yards
Carter Rode 5 Carries, 9 Yards
Davis Burick 2 Carries, 9 Yards

Central
Logan Walton 5 Carries, 43 Yards
Chase Miller 9 Carries, 37 Yards, 2 Touchdowns
Joe Boron 5 Carries, 37 Yards
Vinny DiRuzza: 6 Carries, 26 Yards
Austin Beck 11 Carries, 22 Yards

Passing

Louisville
Colton Jones 21 of 31 for 253 Yards, 3 Touchdowns 1 Interception

Central:
Austin Beck 19 of 28 for 182 Yards, 2 Touchdowns, 2 Interceptions

Receiving

Louisville:
Grayson Beamer 6 Catches, 131 Yards, Touchdown
Justin Broad 2 Catches, 33 Yards
Davis Burick 4 Catches, 31 Yards, Touchdown
Carter Rode 5 Catches, 28 Yards
Ryan Pukys 3 Catches, 27 Yards
Jason Goard 1 Catch, 3 Yards, Touchdown

Central:
Chase Miller 5 Catches, 48 Yards, Touchdown
Riley Campbell 4 Catches, 46 Yards, Touchdown