CEDAR SPRINGS – Catholic Central grabbed a share of the OK Gold Conference championship with a 41-40 victory over Cedar Springs Friday night.
The Cougars pulled off a 59-yard flea-flicker on 4th-and-10 that set up one touchdown, and their special teams recovered a Red Hawks fumble on a kickoff to set up another. Catholic Central quarterback John Passinault scored six touchdowns and Billy Mikolay had a key interception.
But the biggest play of all for the Cougars came after the Red Hawks scored a touchdown with 39 seconds left in regulation to pull Cedar Springs to within one. One play – Cedar Springs’ 2-point conversion attempt – is what would decide it, and Catholic Central’s defense stuffed a quarterback bootleg to preserve its lead and secure the win.
Watch the stop:
“To see them come up with a stop like that for the win is very fitting,” Catholic Central coach Todd Kolster said. “We have relied on our defense here every year. We didn’t play our best today, but they made the stop when it counted. And at the end of the day, you have to have one more point on the scoreboard than the other team, and we did that. I’m very, very proud of our guys.”
The 8-0 Cougars, who will take on Kenowa Hills next Friday in their regular-season finale, have extended their string of consecutive league titles to eight. Catholic Central has won 31 consecutive games overall, and Friday’s win was its 31st-straight league win dating back to 2016.
Catholic Central, which has won four state titles in the past five seasons, trailed 28-19 at halftime against Cedar Springs’ relentless Wing-T offense that racked up 329 yards of offense in the game and scored touchdowns on all three of its first-half possessions. Cedar Springs’ Antwuan Nicholls also returned a kickoff 80 yards for a first-half touchdown.
But the Cougars pulled to within 28-27 on the first offensive possession of the second half after Passinault dove 1-yard for a score. The Cougars were facing 4th and 10 at their own 33 on that drive when Passinault handed off to Jack Rellinger, who flipped the ball back Passinault, who threw a 59-yard completion to Ronin Russell-Dixon down to the 8-yard line.
Cedar Springs was driving on its next possession when the Red Hawks were called for an unsportsman penalty. Mikolay then picked off the Red Hawks on the next play, and moments later, Passinault scrambled to the right and raced down the sideline for a 67-yard touchdown.
Passinault continues to excel after replacing Joey Silveri, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 4. Passinault rushed for 105 yards on 14 carries and three scores, and he was 12-of-18 for 258 yards and three more touchdowns.
“John has been one of the best players in our program for the last two years,” Kolster said. “He hasn’t played quarterback, but he is our free safety, he was our best receiver, he is our holder and long snapper, he’s our punt returner. He is all of those things. So John is the epitome of our program. He is a guy who just works his butt off. He is so passionate and he’s so competitive.
“He doesn’t care. He says do you want me at quarterback? OK. Do you want me at receiver? OK. Do you want me at left guard? I will play left guard. He doesn’t care. That’s the biggest thing. He is a true competitor and a great teammate.”
Ronin Russell-Dixon was one of Passinault’s favorite targets Friday, catching four passes for 158 yards. Devin Fridley-Bell had four catches for 51 yards and two touchdowns, and Nolan Ziegler had three receptions for 43 yards and a score.
Jack Cook led the Cougars defense with 15 tackles, Brady Redmer 13 and Jack Klafeta and Ziegler 11 each.
The loss dropped Cedar Springs to 6-2. Red Hawks quarterback Aiden Brunin rushed for 98 yards on 12 carries and two scores. Ryan Mitchell added 72 yards on the ground and two touchdowns and Alex Ream added a score.
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Catholic Central stops Cedar Springs late to seal win, earns share of Gold title - MLive.com
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