Greenon dominates line, runs past Catholic Central
SPRINGFIELD — Greenon High School played smashmouth football to upset one of the top-ranked teams in Division VII.
Senior Zack Stev e ns rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns on 37 carries and threw two touchdowns as Greenon beat D-VII No. 10 Catholic Central 34-3 on Friday night at Hallinean Field in Springfield.
“We felt like we could control the line of scrimmage when we installed our game plan,” said Knights coach Josh Wooten. “We felt like we had better guys up front, and that’s what we did the entire game. It wasn’t trying to play keep away or anything like that. I thought our defense played a heck of a game. … It was a great job by our kids and a great job by our coaching staff.”
Senior Kaden Wooten went 6-for-7 for 51 yards and a TD and caught three passes for 38 yards and a TD as Greenon improved to 3-5 and 2-1 in the Ohio Heritage Conference South Division.
Junior Daniel Kamara rushed for 109 yards on 10 carries as Catholic Central dropped its second straight game. The Irish fell to 6-2 and 1-2 in the OHC South.
“They just beat us at the line of scrimmage,” said Irish coach Jim Dimitroff. “It’s disappointing.”
The Knights held the ball for nearly 32 minutes in the game, methodically driving the ball down the field with runs mostly between the tackles.
“They were bigger and stronger and had more depth than us and that hurt,” Dimitroff said.
Catholic Central struck first when sen or Tyler Young hit a 25-yard field goal to give the Irish a 3-0 lead.
The Knights took a 6-3 lead when Stevens hit Wooten on a 22-yard TD pass with 9:35 remaining in the second quarter. After a three- and-out by the Irish, the Knights drove the ball 69 yards in 16 plays, capped by a 1-yard TD run by Stevens to make it 13-3 at halftime.
Greenon senior Wade Davis returned the second half kickoff 82 yards to the 3-yard line and scored on a 2-yard pass from Stevens to
igive the Knights a 20-3 lead.
The Irish drove to the Knights 12-yard line on their next possession, but fumbled on the 25-yard line.
Stevens scored again on a 4-yard TD run with 8:20 remaining to make it 27-3. Wooten threw a 29-yard TD pass to Carson Rust with 1:29 remaining to make it 34-3. “The thing that stands out is our offensive line just dominated,” Josh Wooten said. “Zack made some great runs and made a great throw and Kaden made a great catch in a key situation, but our offensive and defensive line played really well tonight.”
The Knights remain one game back in OHC South Division standings with two games to play. Greenon travels to winless Madison Plains (0-8, 0-3) next Friday night.
Catholic Central hosts first-place Greeneview (7-1, 3-0) next week.