by FULL HIGHLIGHTS HERE –
CANTON, OH – The Toledo Central Catholic Fighting Irish defeated the Bishop Watterson Eagles 27-7 to capture their second consecutive State Championship. This time, in Div III after defeating Hoban last year in Division II.
Toledo Central Catholic quarterback Terry Collins went 7 of 11 for 64 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The bulk of the offense came from tailback Marquan Braswell who rumbled for 169 yards on 22 carries with two touchdowns to lead the Fighting Irish. Tyler Morgan had 44 on the ground while Jaylen Watson picked up 41 on 6 carries with a touchdown.
Domic Purcell set the record for most tackles, (21) in a single state championship game for Bishop Waterson as defense remained their calling card. Sadly, the offense faced issues and simply couldn’t score after the opening drive. Quarterback AJ McAninch went 20 of 39 passing for 145 yards. His main target was Jake Uhlenhake who caught 5 passes on 15 targets for 50 yards.
The Bishop Watterson Eagles took their first drive 42 yards over 9 plays to score and grab the lead. They ran 5:46 off the clock, drawing first blood. The score came on a Ben Uhlenhake touchdown run from 6 yards out. They managed to hold the Fighting Irish twice from scoring in the opening quarter, and took a 7-0 lead into the second.
A Kevin Arnold interception near midfield, halted the Eagles second attempt with the ball. The Fighting Irish wasted no time capitalizing, as a 33-yard pass from Collins to Greenlee set them up for a 2-yard touchdown run from Marquan Braswell, tying the game at 7 with 8:44 to go in the second quarter.
Neither team could move the ball, and then the Eagles muffed a punt, giving it to the Fighting Irish on the Eagle 21-yard line with a little over a minute to play in the first half. As the clocked neared 00, the Fighting Irish found paydirt on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Collins to Vaughn, handing them a 14-7 lead at the break. Toledo Central Catholic only had 155 total yards, but that is all they needed because of the two turnovers. The Fighting Irish defense told the story however, holding the Eagles to only 56 total yards in the half.
The bad bounces kept hitting Waterson, as their first punt attempt of the second half was dropped, and then the punter Noah Thomas was tackled trying to recover it. This handed the ball over to the Fighting Irish inside the 15-yard line. A few moments later, it was a walk-in touchdown for Braswell, his second of the day, making it 21-7 Toledo Central Catholic with 8:22 to play in the third quarter.
Waterson had a crack at a comeback midway though the fourth, following a Fighting Irish fumble. The Eagles managed to move the ball inside the 15-yard line as they looked to take advantage of their first big break of the day. They couldn’t make it payoff however, as the drive came up empty after a close touchdown pass, was reviewed and called incomplete.
A few movements later, a 72-yard Braswell run set the Fighting Irish up at the Eagles 5-yard line. This time, it was Jaylen Watson touchdown to put the game away for good from 3 yards out. This put the game away as they expanded their lead to 27-7 with 3:12 to play.
