Watterson falls to Toledo Central Catholic in OHSAA Division III football state final
CANTON — Watterson found itself without an answer for high-powered Toledo Central Catholic for much of Friday’s Division III state final.
Then in the postgame press conference, coach Brian Kennedy found himself briefly stumped as to whether the Eagles had faced a faster team this season.
“I don’t know,” Kennedy said, turning to his left and letting senior linebacker Dominic Purcell answer instead. “Have we?”
Purcell, who had a monstrous game in defeat, sheepishly smiled.
“I don’t think so,” he said.
Central Catholic, which averaged 40.5 points entering Friday to Watterson’s 34.2, nickel-and-dimed the Eagles into submission with a series of solid plays rather than flashy ones, and took advantage of several Watterson mistakes in a 27-7 win to capture its second consecutive championship at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
Marquan Braswell’s 169 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 22 carries led the way for the Irish (16-0), who won the Division II title a season ago and extended their overall winning streak to 31 games.
After spotting Watterson (14-2) an early 7-0 lead, Central Catholic scored touchdowns after an interception, fumbled punt and mishandled snap on another punt to build a 21-7 advantage. The Irish also held Watterson to minus-6 yards rushing and outgained the Eagles 318-139.
Watterson fell short of its first state championship since 2010 and third overall.
“You don’t want to give them opportunities and I thought we did,” Kennedy said. “There were a few plays there that could have gone either way and unfortunately they went the other way. …
“You take away three or four plays in that game, it’s not 27-7. I don’t know the score, but it’s not 27-7.”
Ben Uhlenhake’s 6-yard touchdown run halfway through the first quarter opened the scoring, and Watterson was driving to start the second before the tide turned.
The Eagles’ first turnover, a Kevin Arnold interception of A.J. McAninch on the first play of the second quarter, set up the Irish at Watterson’s 49-yard line. Seven plays later, Braswell tied the game at 7 on a 6-yard run.
The next six possessions, three for each team, ended in punts, but the last became another costly error for Watterson.
Cal Mangini fumbled a punt at his own 19 and Central Catholic’s Leyton Marsh recovered. Four plays later, quarterback Terry Collins found Sharard Vaughn from 6 yards to make it 14-7 with 18 seconds left in the half.
The second half started with similar misfortune.
Punter Noah Thomas dropped the snap for an 18-yard loss, putting Central Catholic at the Eagles 22. Three plays later, Braswell scored from 7 yards and the Irish led 21-7, putting them well on the way to a fifth all-time championship.
“This went fairly close to how I thought it would, watching film, getting to know them and seeing their scores,” Central Catholic coach Greg Dempsey said. “We’ve been here enough to know what we’re going to get out of an opponent and we were very fortunate to overcome some of our own mistakes then take advantage of their miscues. Those were the difference.”
Watterson appeared to get within 21-13 with about six minutes left, but McAninch’s 12-yard pass to Jake Uhlenhake was ruled to have hit the ground.
Purcell, a Navy commit and the Division III Central District Defensive Player of the Year, made a state final-record 21 tackles. He is one of 21 seniors who steered a turnaround that included a Region 11 runner-up finish last year.
“This was always our goal,” senior linebacker Braxton Rundio said. “We just wanted to grow on last year and that’s what we did. This was our goal, we just didn’t finish.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Watterson falls in OHSAA Division III football state final
