By Bud Milroy
Sports Correspondent
Catholic Central High School football coach Tom Aldrich went into Saturday’s game against St. Thomas More with the hope his squad would get off to a fast start.
The Hilltoppers did just that, blasting out of the gate and rolling over Thomas More 46-0 at St. Francis.
The win made the Hilltoppers (3-2 Metro Classic Conference, 3-4 overall) eligible for the postseason, but a win this Friday at home against Martin Luther will clinch the school’s 16th consecutive playoff appearance.
The Spartans will enter the contest 3-2 in the MCC, and Aldrich expects a battle.
“They’re a good team and talented,” the coach explained. “They like to run the ball and they do it well.
“From the run, they use some play action and pass with some success,” he added. “They’re not real big upfront, but they get off the ball well and do a lot of trapping.
“They’ll be a challenge.”
The Hilltoppers needed just three plays to open the scoring against Thomas More. Grant Alderman ripped off 11 yards on his first carry, 26 on his next and then 45 on the touchdown run to make the score 6-0.
On its next possession, Catholic Central saw Alderman open with a run, and then Kyle Kresken picked up five yards. Carson Meinholz, from the spread formation, went 51 yards for the touchdown to make the score 12-0.
Alderman closed out the first quarter and a 51-yard-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run. Spencer Wilker’s extra point made it 19-0.
It was more of the same in the second quarter, as Alderman added two more touchdowns on runs of 12 and 47 yards. Sandwiched in between was an 85-yard sprint by Meinholz. Wilker was good on all three extra-point ties and gave CCHS a 40-0 halftime lead.
“Our line is slowly coming around,” said Aldrich. “At the start of the season, we thought that they would be the strength of the team, but that hasn’t been the case.
“But they’re improving each week and we need them to pull their weight if we’re going to do anything in the playoffs.”
With a running clock in the second half, the regulars played just one series – one that ended in a touchdown that was called back on a penalty. The reserved played well the rest of the half, and Adam Oehlers scored the lone second-half touchdown on a one-yard run late in the fourth quarter.
Jeff Stemper led the CCHS defense with five solo tackles, four assists, a sack and an interception late in the fourth quarter to preserve the shutout. Zach Mehring also had an interception, while Oehlers was credited with forcing a fumble that was recovered by Tegan Miles.
Offensively, Alderman finished with 239 yards on just 12 carries and four touchdowns. Meinholz had four carries for 166 yards, and completed 4 of 6 passes – all to Tyler Burzawa – for 49 yards.
Game time against Martin Luther Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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