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Steubenville Catholic Central High School

Staying Healthy Will Be Key To Crusaders’ Success

STEUBENVILLE — Eric Meek is pulling no punches when it comes to his 2023 Catholic Central football team.

If his Crusaders can stay healthy, then he believes they can achieve success.

“These are great kids and a great school to be a part of,” said Meek, who is entering his second year at the CCHS helm. “I don’t like to see the kids disappointed after a tough football game. I want to see them happy — see them excited. We want to start winning games as soon as possible and really the goal is to win this year.

“If you think about last year, a lot of our kids were involved in winter and spring sports and they had success. We’re hoping that continues into the fall. Like many schools in Division VII, we are very thin at certain positions so we have to stay healthy. Probably 80% of (Division VII) coaches are saying that right now. Since our depth is limited, we have to stay healthy and we have to get better each week. I think if we can have some early success and stay healthy, that will build momentum for us as we go through the season.”

Central went 4-7 in Meek’s first season and qualified for the Region 25 playoffs. The Crusaders went up against then unbeaten Lowellville and fell 54-14.

Coach Eric Meek discusses the season

Just four players are gone from that squad — quarterback Andrew Dorsey, a second team all-Eastern District selection; tight end Nico Petrella, lineman Willie Rao and running back Dashon Seditz, who saw limited playing time due to injuries.

Meek did welcome back 17 starters (many of which see playing time on both sides of the ball).

All 17 are either seniors or juniors. All told, Central had 29 players on its roster heading into summer camp.

“As we enter year two of our program, we hope to be ahead of schedule compared to a year ago,” Meek said. “We hope our young men will play hard each and every game and represent CCHS with ‘Character, Courage, Heart and Spirit.

“A year ago at this time, I was just trying to get to know the kids, they were getting to know me and we began building relationships. Now we have had a whole year in the off-season to evaluate. We had a great off-season in the weight room, which I think is a key.

“We have a lot of kids coming back who have a lot of experience on game night. I said this all last winter and even last fall–what a great group of kids this is to be around. As much fun as I had, imagine how much fun we’ll have when we start winning games on a consistent basis. That’s what we want to do.”

Senior Tyler Ialenti is the leading candidate to replace Dorsey at quarterback. Ialenti saw playing time in 2022, rushing for 235 yards and completing 43% of his passes. As a linebacker, he recorded 40 tackles and had an interception.

Sophomore Matthew Sprochi and freshman Hayden Cihon are pushing Ialenti for the signal calling duties.

Central’s leading rusher from a season ago, junior Tommy Pergi returns for his third year as a two-way starter. The speedy Pergi toted the pigskin 84 times for 313 yards and a touchdown. He also led the team in receiving with 23 catches for 228 yards and two scores. As a defensive back, he was in on 57 tackles and had two picks. Pergi was a second team all-Eastern District selection on the defensive side.

Senior B.J. Fallon also will see time at tailback. Last year, he ran for 148 yards and was third on the team in receiving with 10 grabs. Meek pointed out Pergi and Fallon will lineup as a receiver when not in the backfield.

Others pushing for time at tailback are freshman Ryan Holzworth, freshman Nate Irvin and junior Jimmy Hernon.

Fullback candidates include junior Timmy Mihalyo, senior Toby Rusciano and freshman Kyran Busic.

Pergi, Fallon, Hernon, Mihalyo, senior Michael DiCarlo, sophomore Zach Bryan, senior Thad Federoff and freshman Noah Irvin all will see time at receiver.

A bunch of familiar names will line up in the trenches for Meek. Senior Kody Carver is back for his third season at center. He was a second team all-district honoree. Senior Brendan Grimm, who will be a four-year starter, returns up front as does senior Brayden Rauch, another veteran lineman. Junior Peyton Rauch will be starting for the third year.

Juniors Tino Kropka and Dominic Mascio are battling for the other starting spot on the line.

Other candidates for duty upfront are freshmen Hunter Kirkpatrick, Nick Mascio and Johnny Kostecki along with sophomores Justin Roe and Alex Federoff.

Candidates for tight end are junior Camden Bradley, junior Noah Hough and Busic.

When Central is forced to punt, Meek can turn to senior Daniel Bolster, who averaged 40.05 yards a boot in 2022 and was a first team all-district pick. Bolster had six punts travel more than 50 yards with his longest going 64 yards. He was eight of 13 on extra point attempts.

“Offensively, it is going to be a lot different,” Meek said. “We have a different system, different terminology and different schemes so there is a little learning curve. The kids are picking things up really well. We scored 113 points in 11 games last year and you don’t win a lot of games when you only score 113 points. Turnovers were a big concern–we turned it over way too much. Offensively, we want to get back to a more methodical, consistent approach and cut down on turnovers.

“At times last year, our defense played well as did our special teams. Sure, we gave up some big plays but there also were a lot of three and outs. If we can continue to improve our defense and special teams plus get a little more methodical and tougher offensively, I think we can win some of the tough games on our schedule.

“The kids now understand what to expect from me as far as being at practice and what their responsibilities are. They do everything we ask them to do–especially the older kids because they have played a lot of varsity football. It’s just the success hasn’t been there yet. This is the year we want to get on the positive side of things.”

Eight starters return on the defensive side of the ball led by linebacker Brayden Rauch, who led the Crusaders in tackles last year with 61. Peyton Rauch, Grimm and Bradley are back and Rusciano is looking to earn playing time on the defensive line. Grimm and Peyton Rauch both recorded eight quarterback sacks in 2022.

Ialenti will start at linebacker after recording 40 tackles as a junior. Pergi and Fallon both are returning starters in the secondary.

Others looking to earn time up front defensively are Busic, Kirkpatrick, Kropka, Nick Mascio, Kostecki, Dominic Mascio, Carver, Roe, Hough and A. Federoff.

Mihalyo, Hernon and Cihon are in the mix at linebacker. Candidates for spots in the secondary are DiCarlo, Bryan, Sprochi, Noah Irvin, Nate Irvin, Holzworth and Thad Federoff.

“I’ll tell you these kids are fun — it’s fun to come here every day, it’s a special place. We have great kids. The key for us is going to be stay healthy, constantly improve and play as hard as we can every game. If we can do those things, we can have success. It’s not going to be easy because everyone we are going to play has some strengths. I think you are going to see a lot of competitive, exciting football games.”