Martin Luther routs Catholic Central behind 35 first-quarter points
By Mike Ramczyk
After another lopsided loss Friday night, the Catholic Central football team finds itself in unfamiliar territory.
Despite decades of success including state championships, head coach Tom Aldrich’s squad is 0-5 and short-handed with injuries to key players.
But Aldrich, who is 1-13 the past two seasons after taking the Toppers on the doorstep of a Division 7 state championship game in 2015, is proud of his guys’ effort and says there is no quit in his team.
“It’s challenging for both the players and the coaches,” Aldrich said. “But it’s not about the injuries. It’s about competing and learning to overcome those obstacles that get in your way along the journey.”
“Every team has obstacles to overcome every week of every season. Some obstacles are just more obvious to the outside eye than others. We’ve just had to deal with a lot of injuries this year. Trust me, as much as we don’t like it, there could be a lot worse things to have to deal with.”
With the Toppers’ three best offensive weapons – quarterback Chad Zirbel and running backs Frank Koehnke and Paul Nevin, still out of action, along with defensive back Charles Robinson and lineman Chas Miles, another big obstacle presented itself last Friday in Greendale against Martin Luther.
Martin Luther erupted with 35 first half points en route to a 49-6 victory.
In the first 12 minutes, Nik Mueller hit Brad Kolinski for touchdowns of 55 and 58 yards, and Darios Crawley Reid reeled off scoring runs of 43, 36 and 2 yards.
By halftime, Martin Luther had a 49-0 lead.
Alrich said the Toppers played hard for four quarters.
Early in the fourth, Catholic Central cracked the scoreboard with a Cade Dirksmeyer 20-yard run.
Martin Luther outgained the Toppers, 365-168.
David Doerflinger completed 5-of-9 passes for 54 yards for the Toppers, and Brandon Pum also saw time under center.
Dirksmeyer finished with 57 yards rushing.
Bennett Wright caught two balls for 46 yards.
Aldrich said he expects Robinson back Friday at home against Kenosha St. Joe’s (2-3, 1-2 MCC), and he is hopeful Miles can return.
Aldrich added the team matches up with the Trojans and needs to focus on getting better as individuals and as a team.
Overall, it isn’t about the wins and losses. And the coaching staff isn’t stressing about encouraging players to stay positive.
They do it on their own.
“We’ve got a great group of guys and coaches on this team,” Aldrich said. “All of us would rather win than lose, but regardless of the outcome everybody comes back to work trying to get better each day. What more could you ask for?”
“The kids keep themselves positive. It’s a life choice. We are all responsible for ourselves. Each and every one of us chooses how we are going to respond to different situations in our daily lives. No one else makes that choice for each for us. I’m proud of how our players have handled this year’s adversity and have remained positive.”
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