After a blowout win on the road over Wellsville, the Steubenville Central Catholic Crusaders opened their 2023 home slate against the Tigers of Strasburg. The Tigers were shut out in their first game and looking for their first win of the young season after going 1-9 in 2022.
Steubenville Central took the opening kickoff to their own 36-yard line. However, after a 4 play 14-yard drive, the Crusaders were forced to punt. Daniel Bolster was able to pin the Tigers deep on their own two-yard line. Strasburg could not get anything going and went three and out and were forced to punt from the shadow of their own goal post. This set up a 15-yard return by Central Catholic’s Tommy Pergi to the Tigers 30 yards line. Three plays later, senior quarterback Tyler Lalenti threw a bullet to sophomore Matthew Sprochi for a 25-yard touchdown pass and gave the Crusaders a 7-0 lead with 6:26 to go in the first quarter. After a five play 23-yard drive, the Tigers were forced to punt once again, and we ended the first quarter with Steubenville Central Catholic leading 7-0.
After a Crusaders punt, the Tigers started on their own 28-yard line. The very first play on this drive ended with a Lalenti pick six to make the score 14-0 in favor of the host, Crusaders. Strasburg returned the next kickoff to their own 31-yard line. Three plays later, Central Catholic’s Tommy Pergi picked off a Moore pass and returned it to the Tigers 29-yard line. The Crusaders could not find the endzone on this drive, but 2022 All District kicker, Daniel Bolster nailed a 24-yard field goal to extend the lead to 17-0. After another Tigers three and out the Crusaders got the ball on the Strasburg 47-yard line. After a few penalties, the Crusaders found themselves back at the original starting point of the drive at the 47. After a 22-yard completion to Sprochi, Lalenti found junior tight end Noah Hough across the middle for a 22-yard touchdown strike to make the score 24-0 at the half. Lalenti was perfect in the first half completing all six passing attempts for 77 yards and two scores. The Crusaders also held the Tigers to only 24 yards of total offense in the first half.
On the opening possession of the second half the Tigers got a quick first down but a few plays later Sprochi picked off another Moore pass and returned it to the Steubenville Central 31-yard line. The Crusaders couldn’t get anything moving and both teams would exchange threes and outs in the third quarter. On the first play of the fourth quarter however, Lalenti found Hough for a second time on the night to make the score 30-0 Crusaders. The four play 45-yard drive was capped off by the 28-yard touchdown strike. In the late minutes of the game senior Jacob Lesnefsky picked off a Moore pass to solidify the win for Steubenville Catholic who moved to 2-0 on the season. Ialenti was perfect on the night finishing 8-8 for 119 yards and 3 touchdowns. His leading receiver on the night was Hough who hauled in touchdown receptions of 22 and 28 yards on his two catches. Sprochi had a great night on both sides of the ball hauling in 66 yards on four receptions and a touchdown, plus adding an interception on defense. Pergi had one reception for 14 yards and four carries for nine yards plus an interception on defense as well. Ialenti had the pick six earlier in the game along with Lesnefsky to give the Crusaders four interceptions on the night. Steubenville Catholic Central racked up 210 yards of total offense on the night.
Strasburg was held under the century mark for the night as the Crusaders held the Tigers to only 71 total yards. The sophomore Moore had a tough night in the quarterback position. He completed six passes on 16 attempts for 38 yards and four interceptions. Keizer Thomas played extremely well on both sides of the ball with 11 stops on defense and carried the ball 12 times for 32 yards on offense. Strasburg will look for their first points of the season and first win as they open their home slate next Friday against Leetonia. The Crusaders will return to Harding Stadium to battle Rosecrans next Saturday Night.
Photo by Kayla Crum
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