CATHOLIC Irish (0-1)

vs

CPA Lions (0-1)

August 26, 2016

Vanderbilt Stadium

8:30 p.m. (Easatern)

 

SETTING THE SCENE – Catholic plays CPA at Vanderbilt Stadium for the second-consecutive season… CPA won last year’s game, 38-10…last year’s game was the first between the two teams…Catholic is ranked first in this week’s Associated Press Class 4A poll…CPA is ranked fifth in this week’s Associated Press Class 3A poll…Catholic won the 2015 TSSAA Class 4A state championship…CPA was the 2015 TSSAA Class 3A runnerup…Irish have posted three consecutive 10-win seasons…Irish have won 122 of their last 162 games… Cunningham passed for 280 yards and four TD’s last week…Rodgers and Kuerschen each had two touchdown receptions…Wood rushed for 143 yards and a touchdown against Morristown West…Irish defense had five interceptions in last week’s contest…

 

THE RECORDS – Catholic is 0-1 in 2016. The Irish defeated Morristown West, 63-30, last Saturday, but later forfeited the victory because of the participation of an ineligible player. CPA is 0-1 this year. The Lions lost to Parkview (Ga.), 32-7, last week.

 

ON THE SIDELINE – Steve Matthews is in his fourth year at the helm of the Irish. He also serves as Catholic’s offensive coordinator. Matthews came to Catholic from Seigel High School in Murfreesboro, where he served as offensive coordinator from 2010-2012. He was head coach at Moore County in 2008 and 2009 and posted a 10-10 record. He also served as QB/WR coach at Tullahoma, his high school alma mater, from 2004-2007. His overall record is 41-21, and his record at Catholic is 31-11. Matthews played collegiately at Tennessee and Memphis. He played professionally with the Kansas City Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Oilers.

 

SEASON SCHEDULES – Here are 2016 schedules for both teams:

Catholic (0-1)                                                            CPA (0-1)

8/20     @Mo. West    W, 63-30 (later forfeited)       8/20     Parkview (Ga.)           L, 7-32
8/26     CPA (at Vanderbilt)                                       8/26     Catholic

9/2       @Central                                                        9/2       @White House-Heritage

9/9       @Notre Dame                                                 9/9       @Pearl-Cohn

9/15     @Fulton                                                          9/16     Open Date

9/23     Belfry (Ky.)                                                    9/23     Ensworth

9/30     Anderson County                                            9/30     Stratford

10/7     Open Date                                                       10/7     @East Nashville

10/14   @Carter                                                          10/13   Greenbrier

10/21   Cloudland                                                       10/21   @Goodpasture

10/28   Union County                                                 10/28   Whites Creek

 

 

THE LAST GO ‘ROUND – Catholic’s 2015 roster includes 18 seniors. Included are Amari Rodgers (WR/DB), Jeffery Wood (RB/DB), Hunter Kountz (RB/DB), Nick Lovely (QB/LB), Chase Cunningham (QB/DB), Tony Scott (WR/LB), Baxter Bryan (RB/DB), Chase Kuerschen (WR/DB), Lucky Depersio (RB/LB), Beau Hollin (WR/LB), Andrew Henderson (OL/DL), Jonathan LeBlanc (OL, LB), Jake Coffey (OL, LB), Diego Carvajal (OL/DL), Charlie Connors (OL/DL), Joseph Healy (OL/DL), Josh Sanger (OL/DL), and John Kerbyson (OL/DL).

 

ON THE STAFF – Serving as assistant coaches for the Irish are: Les Greer (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers), Justin Anderson (Offensive Line), Sam Brown (Running Backs), Drew Franklin (Wide Receivers), Marcus McDonald (Special Teams Coordinator/Defensive Line), Daniel Hood (Outside Linebackers), Kris White (Defensive Backs), Steve Wright (Nose Tackles), and J.D. Gambil (Offensive Line assistant).

 

THE SERIES – CPA leads the series with Catholic, 1-0. Here’s a look:

2015: CPA 38, Catholic 10 (at Vanderbilt)

 

LAST YEAR VS. CPA – Catholic suffered its first loss of the season as it dropped a 38-10 decision to CPA. The contest was played at Vanderbilt University. A 58-yard pass from Jack Sompayrac to Amari Rodgers provided the only offensive scoring for the Irish. Catholic also gained two points when a CPA snap sailed out of the end zone for a safety. Catholic actually outgained CPA in total yardage, 390-382, but could not overcome four turnovers. Jeffery Wood led the Irish rushing attack with 99 yards on 16 carries. Wood also had four receptions for 40 yards. Sompayrac was 7-of-10 passing for 138 yards and a touchdown. Rodgers had 90 yards and a touchdown on three grabs. Jake Kyle also had three receptions for 60 yards. Morgan Ernst led the Irish defense with 11 tackles. Augie Fortune added nine stops, including two in the backfield. Tony Scott had seven tackles, including three for-loss.

 

RACK ‘EM UP – Catholic has won 100 of its last 131 regular-season games.

 

REGION FOES – Catholic participates in Region 2-4A. Region foes for the Irish include Anderson County, Carter, Central, Fulton, and Union County.

 

ASSOCIATED PRESS CLASS 4A POLL – Catholic is ranked first in this week’s Associated Press Class 4A poll with 128 overall points and 11 first-place votes. The remainder of the Top 10 includes: 2. Fulton (2/118); 3. Marshall County (94); 4. Greeneville (83); 5. Pearl-Cohn (82); 6. East Hamilton (59); 7. Lexington (53); 8. Knoxville Central (36); 9. Hardin County (25); 10. Ridgeway (9).

 

ASSOCIATED PRESS CLASS 3A POLL – CPA is ranked fifth in this week’s Associated Press Class 3A poll. Alcoa is first with 130 overall points and 13 first-place votes. The remainder of the Top 10 includes: 2. Liberty Magnet (113); 3. Notre Dame (96); 4. CAK (79; 5. CPA (74); 6. Milan (65); 7. Elizabethton (54); 8. Sequatchie County (43); 9. Dyersburg (33); 10. Covington (24).

 

TEAM STATS – Catholic averages 552.0 yards per-game in total offense, including 272.0 yards on the ground and 280.0 yards through the air. Defensively, Catholic allows 370.0 yards per-game, including 78.0 yards on the ground and 292.0 yards through the air. Catholic averages 63.0 points per-game. Opponents average 30.0 points per-game.

 

 

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS – Here are Catholic’s leaders in various individual categories:

Rushing: Jeffery Wood – 14 att., 143 yds., 1 TD

Passing: Chase Cunningham – 16-28-0 280 yds., 4 TD

Receiving: Chase Kuerschen – 7 rec., 137 yds., 2 TD

Scoring: Joshua Brown, Amari Rodgers – 18 pts

Tackles: Joe Fluker – 10

Tackles for loss: Joe Fluker, Beau Hollin, Joseph Healy – 6

Sacks: Charlie Connors, Nick Lovely – 2.5

Interceptions: Joshua Brown, Chase Kuerschen, Jake Mahoney, Tony Scott, Jeffery Wood – 1

 

PLAYERS OF NOTE

 

3 – Amari Rodgers (WR/DB, 5-10, 200, Jr.): 5 rec, 103 yds, 2 TD (60, 32); 1 punt ret., 63 yds (TD) vs. Morristown West…

 

4 – Jeffery Wood (RB, 5-9, 160, Sr.): 14 att, 143 yds, 1 TD (57); 1 rec, 13 yds, 5 tackles, 1 INT vs. Morristown West…

 

10 – Jack Sompayrac (QB/DB, 6-1, 185, Jr.): 8 tackles vs. Morristown West…

 

16 – Chase Cunningham (QB, 5-10, 160, Sr.): 16-28-0, 280 yds, 4 TD (60, 32, 28, 36) vs. Morristown West…

 

21 – Tony Scott (LB, 6-2, 195, Sr.): 7 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 PBU, 1 INT vs. Morristown West…

 

22 – Joe Fluker (LB, 5-9, 175, Jr.): 10 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 PBU vs. Morristown West…

 

31 – Joshua Brown (RB/LB, 6-2, 205, Jr.): 6 att, 43 yds, 2 TD (21, 3); 8 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT (33/TD) vs. Morristown West…

 

36 — Chase Kuerschen (WR/DB, 6-1, 2-5, Sr.): 7 rec, 137 yds, 2 TD (28, 36), 4 tackles, 1 INT vs. Morristown West…

 

43 — Beau Hollin (LB, 6-3, 190, Sr.): 9 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 PBU vs. Morristown West…

 

45 – Jake Mahoney (LB, 5-11, 195, Jr): 9 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT vs. Morristown West…

 

REGION 2-4A STANDINGS – Here’s a look at the 2016 Region 2-4A standings:

DISTRICT     OVERALL

Central                        0-0                   1-0

Fulton                         0-0                   1-0

Anderson County        0-0                   0-1

Carter                          0-0                   0-1

Catholic                     0-0                   0-1

Union County             0-0                   0-1

 

Last week’s games

Catholic 63, @Morristown West 30 (later forfeited)

Greeneville 55, @Anderson County 9

Halls 27, @Carter 23

Central 33, @South-Doyle 7

@Grainger 48, Union County 6

Fulton 67, @Morristown East 7

 

Friday’s games

Catholic vs. CPA (at Vanderbilt)

Carter @ Jefferson County

Anderson County @ Heritage

Claiborne @ Union County

Central @ Campbell County
Saturday’s game

Maryville @ Fulton

 

 

WEEK ONE – Catholic opened its season with a 63-30 win at Morristown West. The Irish later forfeited the win because of the participation of an ineligible player. Amari Rodgers opened the scoring for Catholic with his 63-yard punt return early in the contest. Less than a minute later, Chase Cunningham found Rodgers on a 60-yard scoring strike to up the margin to 15-0. A second Cunningham-to-Rodgers connection, this a 32-yarder, gave the Irish a 22-0 lead midway through the first quarter. A West touchdown trimmed Catholic’s margin to 22-7 after the first stanza. Cunningham tossed a 28-yard strike to Chase Kuerschen early in the second quarter to advance the score to 29-7. Following a West touchdown, Jeffery Wood rambled 57 yards to paydirt to give Catholic a 36-14 halftime advantage. Early in the third quarter Cunningham connected with Kuerschen on a 36-yard strike to up the margin to 43-14. A West score left the Irish lead at 43-22 after three quarters. Following the lead of Rodgers’ three scores in a quarter, Joshua Brown made repeated trips into the end zone in the final quarter. Brown had scoring runs of 21 and three yards and also returned an interception 33 yards to paydirt. Cunningham was 16-of-28 passing for 280 yards and four touchdowns. Kuerschen had seven grabs for 137 yards and two scores. Rodgers had five receptions for 103 yards and two touchdowns. Wood gained 143 yards on 14 carries. Joe Fluker led the Irish defense with ten tackles, including three for-loss. Jake Mahoney had nine tackles and an interception, (cont’d) with Beau Hollin also recoding nine stops, including three for-loss. Kuerschen and Tony Scott also had picks for the Irish.

 

ON THE RADIO – Tonight’s game is being broadcast on WNML, The Sports Animal (99.1 FM). John Wilkerson handles play-by-play, while former Catholic quarterback and 1999 Mr. Football winner Rob Demastus adds commentary.

 

UP NEXT – Catholic plays its first Region 2-4A contest next week as it travels to Central. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., at Dan Y. Boring Stadium/Joel Helton Field.