Catholic uses big plays to take down East Ascension in District 5-5A – The Advocate

Catholic High School took advantage of big plays early and often in Fridays 48-29 district win over East Ascension at Memorial Stadium.

Big plays set up scores oftten for Catholic. A fumble recovery by Jack Massey set up the Bears offense deep in the red zone. A 44-yard run by Tae Nicholas allowed Landon Carter to kick a chip shot through the uprights. A 39-yard catch by Shelton Sampson set the Bears up on the Spartans 1-yard line, which was quickly converted into seven points by Nicholas.

The Spartans (2-2, 0-1 5-5A) didnt shy away from the big play, either though their one touchdown in the first half came off of a 66-yard interception by Bryce Harkless, who ran it back for a touchdown.

The Bears (5-0, 1-0 5-5A) kept quarterback Troy Dunn on the move for most of the first half, forcing the senior signal caller to either tuck it and run or throw on the move. On one particular throw late in the second quarter, the intense pass rush paid off. Dunn reared back and fired a bomb deep into double coverage, only to picked off an returned by Bears defensive back Brooks Wright.

That set up a 39-yard field goal by Landon Carter with just 10 seconds left in the half.

Still, Dunn had his moments, including a 43-yard touchdown strike to Zhavier Jupiter when he was flushed from the pocket and forced to roll right before hitting the junior squarely between the numbers.

With a two-score lead, Catholic coach David Simoneaux opted to keep the playcalling conservative and leaned mostly on senior running back Corey Singleton to control the clock and move the chains. Singleton had other plans, however, when he broke through the pile at the line of scrimmage and found room up the right sideline for a 62-yard score in the third quarter. It wasnt Singletons only big play of the night, as he ripped another run of 43 yards for a touchdown.

RB Corey Singleton, Catholic: Despite a relatively quiet first half where he ceded touches to Nicholas, Singleton broke out in the second half in a big way. The senior tallied more than 100 yards on a pair of touchdown runs, his fifth multi-touchdown performance on the season.

East Ascension coach Darnell Lee: I think (Spartans defense) played well, we just have to do a better job of tackling at times. Thats been all season.

Catholic coach David Simoneaux: Theyve got a great-looking group that fought till the end. But really we were kind of inside more in the first half. We were still able to spring some but they were tough, hard-earned yards. Then we really found some big plays on the outside in the running game in the second half.

The Bears scored five touchdowns on the ground for the second time this season. Their first five-rushing touchdown performance came against Our Lady of Good Counsel (Md.).

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Catholic uses big plays to take down East Ascension in District 5-5A - The Advocate