Central Catholic falls to Ascension Catholic

The Ascension Catholic Bulldogs were bigger on the offensive and defensive lines, and the squad simply was more physical in their nondistrict matchup with Central Catholic, which equated to a 41-21 win for the Donaldsonville-based school in Morgan City Thursday.
The Bulldogs (2-0) jumped out to a 21-0 lead with a little less than 4 minutes remaining in the first quarter en route to the lopsided victory.
Central Catholic coach Tommy Minton said the Eagles didn’t match the Bulldogs’ physicality on the offensive and defensive lines.
“It’s hard to move the football when you don’t, and it’s hard to stop the run when you don’t,” he said.
Early in the second quarter, Central Catholic (0-2) cut its deficit to 21-7 as quarterback Freddie Calloway scored on a 6-yard run with 11:03 remaining in the first half. However, the touchdown was a costly one as Calloway went down with an injury and never returned.
Calloway finished his night with six carries for 30 yards and one touchdown and completed 4 of 9 passes for 13 yards.
Caleb O’con replaced him and did some good things for the Eagles as he completed 8 of 19 passes for 114 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
“I thought Caleb did a good job when he came in,” Minton said. “We got full confidence in Caleb. The two of them have worked at quarterback all summer, all through practice, and they both bring different things to the table.
“With Freddie back there, he’s a running threat,” Minton added. “He can do some things with his feet. Caleb is not as big and can’t be the running threat Freddie is, but he does a good job in the short passing game.”
The Eagles trailed 34-7 at halftime and 41-14 after three quarters, with Damondrick Black-burn scoring the Eagles’ third quarter touchdown on a 3-yard run with 2:36 remaining in the period.
Ascension Catholic totaled 514 yards of offense (396 rushing and 118 passing).
Tailback Khai Prean and quarterback Bryce Leonard led the squad. Prean had 15 carries for 211 yards and three touchdowns, while Leonard completed 6 of 14 passes for 118 yards and also rushed seven times for 99 yards and two touchdowns.
Leonard’s top receiver was his brother, Brooks Leonard, who caught four passes for 110 yards.
Central Catholic finished the game with 251 yards of offense (127 passing and 124 rush-ing).
Blackburn led the team’s run game with 17 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown.
Caleb Menina was the team’s top receiver with eight receptions for 99 yards and a score.
The Eagles’ Brett Morell was 3-for-3 on point-after attempts.
Central Catholic will return to action next week when it hosts Centerville on Oct. 23 for its homecoming game. It will be the Eagles’ District 8-1A opener. Ascension Catholic will open district play when it hosts White Castle.
“We got to work on us, and we got to take a look at this film,” Minton said. “It’s a loss, but you learn from it and you get better from it. We start district next week, and we got a long way to go.”