Catholic Central 48, Thomas More 12
By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
Friday night’s Homecoming football game against visiting Thomas More didn’t start well for the Catholic Central Hilltoppers.
It took less than two minutes, and the winless Cavaliers were up 6-0 on the mighty, undefeated ‘Toppers.
Would Catholic Central finally have a test in Metro Classic Conference play?
The answer was a resounding “no,” thanks to seniors Cole Kresken and Ben Heiligenthal.
Kresken, who went off for 197 yards rushing and eclipsed the 1,000-yard plateau, ran for two long touchdowns in the first quarter, and the Toppers enjoyed a happy Homecoming with a 42-12 romp.
Kresken’s scoring runs of 64 and 35 yards were sandwiched by a Heiligenthal 2-yard sneak, and Catholic Central led 21-7 after the first quarter.
Cole Pankau caught a 25-yard pass from Heiligenthal to give the home team a 27-12 halftime lead, but Heiligenthal ended all upset thoughts with touchdown runs of 40, 15 and 31 yards in the third quarter.
Catholic Central improved to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the MCC. The two biggest tests of the season will come Saturday at Horlick Field againt four-time defending MCC champ Racine St. Cat’s and Oct. 16 at home in the regular season finale against Kenosha St. Joe’s (5-2, 5-0).
“Every week, a new opponent poses a different challenge,” said Catholic Central coach Tom Aldrich. “St. Cat’s is no different in that sense. They have been the conference champions for the past four years. I think it adds a little extra incentive for all of us.”
Kresken, who only has 97 carries this season, good for a 10+ average per rush, also brought it defensively, with eight tackles and an INT.
Heiligenthal was 5-for-6 passing for 61 yards, and he added 79 yards on the ground.
The Toppers ran for 283 yards and held Thomas More to 96. The Cavaliers managed 220 total yards.
Though quarterback AJ Greenberg passed for 130 yards, he tossed three picks, to Kresken, Chad Zirbel and Zach McClenathan.
The menacing Catholic Central defense added seven sacks, with Zirbel, Hertel Novasic (1.5), Tristan Welka (2), Hayden Kempken, Trevor Meinholz and Ian Aldrich (0.5) all contributing.
It wasn’t a perfect performance by any means, Aldrich said, but the team’s effort was huge.
“The keys to victory were our attitude, effort and execution,” he said. “I thought our players were very disciplined in practice all week and came into the game very focused. Despite excellent execution, Thomas More was schematically able to take advantage of a few things against us.”
“Our players’ ability to execute adjustments helped give us control of the game early in the second half.”
Gonzalo Perez, Jacob Webley, Caleb Kresken and Zirbel all had carries for the Toppers. Also, Pankau (2-29) led the receiving corps, and Brandon Vandehei, Austin Neuhaus and Webley each had one catch.
The Toppers also won the turnover battle, three to one. Jack Horner recovered two fumbles, and Aaron Reuber added a fumble recovery.
Catholic Central travels to Horlick Field in Racine Saturday to take on Racine St. Cat’s.
The Angels are passing for 116 yards per game, which is higher than the Toppers. But Catholic Central runs for 282 yards per contest, nearly double St. Cat’s.
-
-
-
-
-