Central Catholic pounded the ball with running back Jonzell Norrils and made some plays on the outside with quarterback Bishop Vargas and his talented receivers, but the story of the night was the defense in a 28-6 win over Detroit Catholic Central on Friday night at Gallagher Stadium.
The Fighting Irish (3-0) held the Shamrocks (1-2) to 196 yards of total offense and put the game away in the fourth quarter with a six-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by defensive lineman Carter Fouty.
“The whole defense worked hard,” Fouty said. “Up front, our line had to go toe-to-toe with their line and they are real big and real fundamental so it was a big challenge. The DB's covered the ball well the whole game, and we just all came together and did our job.”
Fouty had nine tackles in the game along with a sack and the fumble recovery touchdown as he and his Fighting Irish teammates made things difficult for Detroit Catholic Central all night.
“Defensively, we did a great job all night,” Central Catholic coach Greg Dempsey said. “Our defense saved us when we turned the ball over deep, and got us the ball back with good field position twice early. They set us up really well.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Norrils scored on a 5-yard run to give Central Catholic a 7-0 lead.
Then Vargas found Tae'Shaun Johnson, and Johnson sliced his way through the Shamrock defense and broke free for a 73-yard score that gave the Irish a 14-0 lead.
The Irish missed a scoring chance early after Vargas raced 36 yards to the 4-yard line. After a short Norrils run, Vargas fumbled on a run up the middle and the Shamrocks recovered.
But the defense lifted up the Irish until the offense broke through for the 14 second-quarter points.
“It's huge,” Dempsey said. “That sort of thing can deflate you, and they picked us up. That's their mentality is next play, and they knew they needed to pick us up and they did. They did a good job prepping all week and being ready for some things.
“That's a big, physical team, and we stood up to them real well. That's good because you don't see teams like that too often.”
In the second half, Vargas found Randy Williams on a 19-yard TD catch after Williams took a wide receiver screen and made some quick moves, including a spin move that propelled him into the end zone.
“We have good athletes and we have to give them the ball in space and they have to make plays when we do,” Dempsey said.
“That's where did a great job. With the screens, we got some guys out in front of [Johnson and Williams] and they used their blockers and they are real explosive off the catch to make that first guy miss and get to the second level and outrun some people.”
Detroit Central Catholic got on the board early in the fourth quarter when Cole Price scored on a fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line as he bounced the ball to the outside after taking the snap in the wildcat formation.
After a Central Catholic punt, the Irish got the defensive score from Fouty when he picked up a Jack Beno fumble and returned it six yards for a touchdown to increase its lead to 28-6.
“I just saw the ball pop up into my arms and I just ran as fast as I could to get into the end zone,” Fouty said.
Norrils carried the ball 17 times for 68 yards and a touchdown, and Vargas completed 6 of 7 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns.
“The defense is always great,” Norrils said.
“They set us up with great field position. Then we come out and we do our job. Our job is to score the ball and their job is to keep getting stops and that's what we did tonight.”
The win sets Central Catholic up well for the upcoming Three Rivers Athletic Conference season.
“That was a big test for our offense,” Dempsey said.
“They are a big physical team up front. Can we move the ball on them on the ground? We got some passing yards and mixed in some passing. But being able to run the ball against a great defense is a great thing to happen heading into league.”
First Published September 14, 2019, 2:11 a.m.