By Bud Milroy
Sports Correspondent
It was a bad week for the Catholic Central High School football team to see a streak end.
Kenosha St. Joseph earned its first victory over the Hilltoppers since joining the Midwest Classic Conference, beating CCHS 21-14 at Kenosha’s Ameche Field Friday.
The loss drops CCHS to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the MCC. The Hilltoppers still need one win to become playoff eligible.
The Lancers, buoyed by a loud Homecoming crowd, started quickly by bringing the opening kickoff back – but then fumbled the ball and saw it recovered by Catholic Central’s Nick Ulloa.
The Hilltoppers’ first possession produced two first downs, but CCHS was forced to punt at midfield. Ian Neville took the handoff on first down for the Lancers and went 47 yards to the CCHS 14-yard line.
On the next play, the senior tailback got in the end zone, and the extra point gave St. Joe’s a 7-0 lead.
CCHS went nowhere on its next drive, and St. Joe’s managed to take the ball to the Catholic Central 12-yard line before the drive stalled.
Michael Ryan connected on a 36-yard field goal to make the score 10-0.
“We came out flat tonight and put ourselves in a hole,” said CCHS coach Tom Aldrich. “They controlled the line of scrimmage and were very quick off the ball.”
St. Joseph’s Ryan added another field goal in the third quarter to give his team a 13-0 lead going into the final quarter of play.
But with 9:30 left in the game, the Hilltoppers capped a long drive with a 24-yard touchdown by Grant Alderman, who hauled in a pass from Carson Meinholz.
After a defensive stop, the Hilltoppers drove the ball again. Meinholz finished the drive by going in from three yards out and the extra point gave CCHS a 14-13 lead with 4:14 left in the game.
“I thought our kids showed some real resilience,” Aldrich said. “They battled back and were in position to win.”
St. Joe’s, though – after losing on a last-second field goal to CCHS last year – wasn’t going to be denied. The Lancers finally connected with their air game, scoring with three minutes left and converting the two-point play for a 21-14 lead.
The Hilltoppers went to work from their own 20-yard line, but the drive stalled and CCHS turned it over on downs at the St. Joe’s 22-yard line, ending the game.
“Defensively, we played pretty well,” Aldrich said. “We bent but we didn’t break. We played much better than last week and so all you can ask for is week-to-week improvement and we got that.”
CCHS hosts University School of Milwaukee Saturday at 2 p.m. in the school’s Homecoming game.
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