Nationally ranked St. Frances Academy tops Central Catholic in showcase at Wolvarena

By: Chris Harlan
Sunday, August 25, 2024 | 12:17 AM

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There was no surprise about the talent Central Catholic’s opponent brought to town.

Ranked 13th nationally by USA Today, St. Frances Academy lived up to the program’s lofty reputation with a 44-16 victory over the Vikings in a Week Zero showcase Saturday at the Wolvarena. South Florida-bound senior Jeremiah Koger caught two touchdowns, and a defense dotted with a few future SEC players caused trouble for a Central Catholic team that understood the challenge they’d accepted.

“You get an opportunity to challenge yourself against one of the best programs in the country,” Central Catholic coach Ryan Lehmeier said. “There are a lot of athletes over there who are going to play big-time football. I think if you roll the dice, there’s going to be a couple of them who are going to get paid to play the game someday because they’re exceptionally talented.”

St. Frances Academy of Baltimore plays a national schedule and has games later in the season against the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the USA Today rankings.

Sophomore quarterback Tristan Sabb passed for three touchdowns, connecting with Koger for 46- and 34-yarders. Sabb also threw a 9-yarder to sophomore James Branch, another wideout with college offers.

St. Frances scored the game’s first 14 points and led 21-3 at halftime. Central Catholic’s only first-half points came on a 45-yard field goal by senior kicker Billy Lech.

Central Catholic proved it could move the ball at times behind first-year starting quarterback Jy’Aire Walls, who led the Vikings to the 1-yard line on their first possession. They gained 73 yards in 10 plays, but after consecutive goal-line stops, the third-down snap was fumbled away.

Trailing 7-0, Central Catholic lost a chance to build some early momentum.

“If we’d have punched that in, it’s definitely a momentum swing,” Walls said.

Walls had completed a 44-yard pass to senior Bradley Gompers to start the drive and converted on fourth-and-1 a few plays before the fumble.

“A football game is a sequence of events and you don’t know which one is going to swing the tide,” Lehmeier said. “It was a big play for sure, but there were other plays that could’ve been made. I’m not just going to hang it on one.”

Central Catholic’s Xxavier Thomas stopped St. Frances’ next possession with an interception near the other goal line. But St. Frances still ended up scoring three touchdowns in the first half, starting with Branch’s 9-yard catch on the team’s first possession.

St. Frances added an 8-yard touchdown run by junior Jaylen Burke early in the second quarter and the 42-yard catch by Koger just before half.

Three plays into the third quarter, St. Frances defense earned a safety when it tackled running back Roman Thompson in the end zone for a 23-3 lead. Central Catholic’s deficit grew 27 points later in the quarter when St. Frances’ Antonio Smith reached the end zone on a 13-yard run.

“We knew what they were going to be, national powerhouse and all that” Walls said. “They played fast. We knew they were going to bring it. We hung in there with them. It’s a learning experience.”

Central Catholic scored two touchdowns in the final 10 minutes. Thomas caught an 11-yard touchdown from Walls late in the third, and Thompson scored on a 6-yard run in the fourth.

“They challenge you in every facet,” Lehmeier said. “They threw some things at us that were definitely different. Just the speed of the game and the length that these guys have can be a problem. … But I thought we went at them.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Central Catholic