[Buckskin86]

Central Catholic's Dane Sanzenbacher hurdles a pile of players en route to a touchdown on a 65-yard play after taking a pass from quarterback Tyler Kleeberger early in the third quarter against Whitmer last night. The score put the Irish up 14-7 and proved to be the game-winner in their 22nd straight victory.
( THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY )

Article published Saturday, October 21, 2006
Irish top Whitmer; Central's 22nd straight win nets CL title
By STEVE JUNGA
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

Central Catholic lived up to its nickname last night in a City League football showdown against Whitmer at Waite's Mollenkopf Stadium.

The Fighting Irish took the proverbial punch in the mouth early from an inspired Panther squad, were staggered a bit, but then regrouped and answered impressively in a 28-7 win that mathematically clinched their second straight City championship.

Even if the top-ranked defending Division II state champion Irish (9-0, 6-0 CL) lose Friday night to St. John's Jesuit at the Glass Bowl, the Titans (7-2, 5-1) cannot pass Central under the league's point system.

In winning its 22nd consecutive game, Central passed rival St. Francis de Sales for the longest such streak in CL history. The Knights won 21 straight from 1965-67.

"If this does lock up the City title, that's obviously a great thing for our kids," Irish coach Greg Dempsey said, "getting back-to-back titles. That's a great achievement. But we still have a big game next week with a rival.

"The streak is somethingeverybody else talks about. Our kids' goal is to have the streak at the end of the year [in playoffs]."

Whitmer (6-3, 5-1), which had its six-game winning streak snapped, looked ready, willing and able to end Central's run early on.

The Panthers grabbed the momentum early defensively, when cornerback Apollo Scott intercepted quarterback Tyler Kleeberger's first pass and returned it 26 yards to the Irish 21 just 1:42 into the game.

Anthony Allen (16 carries, 65 yards), the CL's leading rusher, then went eight yards on the next play and then 13 more for a touchdown as the Panthers took a 7-0 lead with 9:40 left in the first quarter.

"They're a very aggressive team on both sides of the ball," Dempsey said, "definitely the most aggressive team we've seen thus far. They hit you hard up front. They had a lot of momemtum. It didn't shock me that they were capable of coming out and doing that."

After the teams locked into a smashmouth defensive war early in the second quarter, Central tied the game with a four-play, 55-yard TD drive. Junior back Cedric Bouyer (17 carries, 80 yards) bolted 42 yards for the score 5:24 before halftime.

Ohio State-bound wideout Dane Sanzenbacher, stymied by the Panther defense before halftime, broke loose and scored what proved to be the game-winning TD 2:39 after the break.

He took a screen pass to the right from Kleeberger (9-of-14 passing, 146 yards) and turned it into a 65-yard sprint to the end zone and a 14-7 Irish lead.

"It was just a little screen out there," Sanzenbacher said. "I got some great blocks around the end, especially from my tight end, Chris Dominiak. He made a huge block and I just made what I could out of it.

"It was kind of relieving. After I was bottled up in the first half, it was nice to be able to do that."

After forcing a Whitmer punt, another screen pass to the right - a 42-yarder to Ray Calhoun - set up Paul Jacoby's nine-yard TD run around left end on the next play with 5:35 left in the third quarter.

"They're No. 1 in the state for a reason," Whitmer coach Joe Palka said of Central. "I thought our kids really played hard and came after 'em.

"But the bottom line was no field position and we didn't move the ball in the second half. We put our defense on the field too much. All the credit goes to Central. That's why they're where they're at."

Jacoby (10 rushes, 81 yards), who has scored 10 TDs in the past three games, added an 11-yarder to seal things with 2:43 left in the game. He was also the leading force on Central's defense.

"This was the most intense game that we've had all season," Jacoby said. "The hype, the crowd - everything was just so intense."

Central, which trailed the total offensive battle 130-92 at halftime, won it 336-166 at game's end. Whitmer QB Donnie Dottei ran for 40 yards and was 9-of-21 passing for 54 yards.

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