St. Thomas Aquinas Knights 24
Canton Central Catholic Crusaders 21
A lot can change in just a few short weeks. The Aquinas football team understands this truism better than anyone. Just 2 weeks after one of the most lopsided losses in STA history, the Knights buckled up their chinstraps and got one of the biggest wins for the program in the last decade. Friday night's thrilling victory over Catholic school rival Central Catholic is easily the biggest win in coach Tim Tyrrell's young career....and it came against the dean of Stark County coaches and the man whom the stadium is named after, Lowell Klinefelter. STA's win was a total victory in all facets of the game. The Knights rushed for 258 yards on offense, got 2 turnovers and a TD on special teams, and the STA defense held Central to 130 yards on the ground, including only allowing Central's athletic QB Fred Harold 11 yards rushing.
STA started out slowly in this one. On the first play from scrimmage, STA sophomore sensation tailback Dennis Underwood fumbled and Central recovered at the STA 35. But Underwood would more than make up for that miscue later in the game. Central drove down to the STA 1 yard line, but they too coughed up the football. After a Knights' punt, Central put the first points on the board with a 1 yard TD run to lead 7-0. After an STA drive stalled and then a Central drive failed, the Crusaders lined up to punt. What would happen next would be the turning point of the game. Central's long snapper sailed the snap over the punter's head and into the endzone. STA junior DB/WR Kevin Manfred fell on the ball in the back of the endzone for the touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.
STA would then score he next 17 points, as the rushing attack and the offensive line of the Knights started to take over the game. After Central fumbled a kickoff return, STA added a FG by sophomore kicker John Rice to take a 10-7 lead. Then, in the 2nd quarter, sophomore back Dennis Underwood (6'2 190) took a handoff, bounced outside to the left and outran the Crusader defense for a 35 yard TD run to give STA a 17-7 lead at the half.
In the third quarter, Underwood struck again. Central looked to have STA pinned back at their own 12 yard line after an amazing 76 yard punt by the Crusader punter. But, on the first play, Dennis Underwood took it off left tackle, picked up a couple of key blocks, broke one tackle and burned down the field for an 88 yard TD sprint and a 24-7 STA lead. Central passed the ball almost exclusively after falling behind by 17 points late in the 3rd quarter (important to note that the Knights were stuffing the Central running game anyway). They were able to get two scores in the 4th quarter to draw within 24-21 and causing Aquinas fans to sweat a little. But, the STA defense stepped up in the last 2 minutes as Central tried to drive into tying FG range, and stopped the Crusaders on 4th down from about midfield with 40 seconds to play in the game.
Dennis Underwood led the Knights with 176 yards on 18 rushes. FB/RB Kevin Host added 49 yards on the ground for the Knights. STA QB Jason Chessler scrambled for 30 yards on the ground and threw for 58 yards on 3 completions. The win was STA's 2nd victory over Central in the last 4 years (1999 being the other), and more importantly, was the 200th win in the 36 year history of St. Thomas Aquinas varsity football. The Knights improve to 2-3, while the Crusaders fall to 2-3 on the year.
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