ANDERSON COUNTY Mavericks (7-0)

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CATHOLIC Irish (6-0)

October 10, 2014

7:30 p.m.

Blaine Stadium/Hollin Field

 

 

SETTING THE SCENE – Two top-10 teams in their respective classes square off… Catholic is ranked second in this week’s Associated Press Class 4A poll…Anderson County is ranked third in this week’s Associated Press Class 5A poll… Irish lead the series with Anderson County, 5-1…Anderson County won last year’s game, at Anderson County, 61-40…Catholic is averaging 48 points per-game…Irish have scored 273 points in their last five games (54.6 ppg)…Catholic has outscored its opponents, 225-43, in the first half this season…Irish defense has allowed just 13 points (two field goals and one touchdown) in the second half this season…Catholic is +14 in turnover margin… Catholic’s last action saw it defeat District 4AA foe Kingston, 49-14…Kuerschen had a career-high 169 receiving yards in that game…Jancek had a career-high 272 passing yards in that contest…Davis rushed for a career-high 126 yards and two touchdowns…Davis also had a 53-yard pick-six…Rowan led the Irish defense with 13 tackles, a team single-game season high…included in Rowan’s numbers were six TFL’s, his second 6 TFL game this season…Rowan leads Catholic in tackles with 54, including 21 TFL’s and five sacks…Rodgers averages 9.5 yard per-carry…Jancek has thrown eight touchdown passes over the past three games…Lacey leads team in scoring with 42 points (seven TD’s)… Irish have won 107 of their last 140 games…

 

THE RECORDS – Catholic is 6-0 this season, including a 2-0 mark in District 4AA. The Irish won at Kingston last week, 49-14. Anderson County is 7-0 this season, including a 6-0 record in District 3AAA. The Mavericks won at Central last week, 59-35.

 

ON THE SIDELINE – Steve Matthews is in his second 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 26-14, and his record at Catholic is 16-4. Matthews played collegiately at Tennessee and Memphis.

 

RACK ‘EM UP – Catholic has won 91 of its last 116 regular-season games.

 

DISTRICT FOES – Catholic participates in Class 4A. The Irish are in District 4AA, which includes (playoff bracket in parentheses): Alcoa (3A), CAK (3A), Kingston (3A), and Scott (4A).

CLASS 4A POLL – Catholic is ranked second in this week’s Associated Press Class 4A Top 10. Fulton is ranked first with 15 first-place votes and 150 points. The remainder of the Top 10: 2. Catholic (135); 3. Crockett County (105); 4. Greeneville (93); 5. Pearl-Cohn (66); 6. Trezevant (64); 7. Jackson North Side (48); 8. Signal Mountain (42); 9. Liberty Magnet (35); 10. Sullivan South (30).

CLASS 5A POLL – Anderson County is ranked third in this week’s Associated Press Class 5A Top 10. Knoxville West is ranked first with 13 first-place votes and 144 points. The remainder of the Top 10: 2. Memphis East (124); 3. Anderson County (1/107); 4. Ridgeway (98); 5. Ooltewah (92); 6. Hillsboro (80); 7. South Doyle (54); 8. Henry County (46); 9. Rhea County (41); 10. Oak Ridge (24).

SERIES VS. ANDERSON COUNTY – Catholic leads the series with Anderson County, 5-1. Here’s a look:

2005: @Catholic 37, Anderson County 7

2006: Catholic 35, @Anderson County 0

2007:@ Catholic 27, Anderson County 14

2008: Catholic 28, @Anderson County 14

2008: @Catholic 17, Anderson County 13 (Playoffs/Second Round)

2013: @Anderson County 61, Catholic 40

DISTRICT 4AA STANDINGS – Here’s a look at the 2014 District 4AA standings:

DISTRICT    OVERALL

Catholic          2-0                   6-0

Alcoa               2-0                   6-1

CAK               1-1                   4-2

Scott                1-2                   5-2

Kingston         0-3                   1-5

 

Last week

Catholic 49, Kingston 14

Alcoa 48, Scott 7

Open — CAK

 

Friday’s games

Anderson County @ Catholic

CAK @ Belfry (Ky.)

Loudon @ Kingston

Scott @ Claiborne

Open – Alcoa

LAST YEAR VS. ANDERSON COUNTY – Catholic suffered its first loss of the season as it dropped a 61-40 non-district game at Anderson County. Elijah Brown and Harrison Huber each had two touchdowns for the Irish. Brown scored on runs of four and 32 yards, while Huber had scoring grabs from Zac Jancek covering 31 and 67 yards. Brown led the rushing attack with 99 yards on 12 carries. Logan Lacey (three yards) and Amari Rodgers (11 yards) also had touchdown runs for Catholic. Jancek was 14-of-22 passing for a season-high 222 yards. In addition to Huber’s touchdowns, Will Martinez had five catches for 39 yards, while Chase Kuerschen had three catches for 66 yards. The Irish had 426 yards in total offense on the evening. Dawson Anderson and Dominic Souder each had 12 tackles for the Irish defense, while Austin Rowan had 11 stops. Lacey and Corey Ostrowski had interceptions, and Lacey added two sacks.

WEEK SIX – Catholic improved to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in District 4AA with its 49-14 win at Kingston. Moses Davis, who rushed for a career-high 126 yards in the game, opened the scoring with his 13-yard run late in the first quarter. Kingston then returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7. Davis found paydirt from the defensive side next, returning an interception 53 yards to give the Irish the lead for good. A 27-yard run from Griffin Dishner upped the margin to 21-7, midway through the second quarter. A six-yard run by Davis gave the Irish a 28-7 lead before Kingston scored again just prior to halftime. After scoring on the ground in the first half, the Irish turned to the air in the third quarter. Zac Jancek passed five yards to Jordan Anderson, then connected with Chase Kuerschen on a 34-yard score late in the quarter. Austin Rowan concluded the scoring with his three-yard run in the final quarter.  Jancek finished the evening 17-of-24 for a career-high 272 yards. Kuerschen tied his career-high for receptions with nine and totaled a career-high 169 receiving yards. In addition to scoring his first career touchdown, Rowan had a season-high 13 tackles, including six for-loss. Corey Ostrowski had 12 tackles for the Irish

WEEK FIVE – Catholic pitched a shutout, its second of the season, with its 38-0 Homecoming win over Hardin Valley. Chase Kuerschen got the Irish on the board midway through the first quarter with his 59-yard interception return. A 13-yard pass from Zac Jancek to Amari Rodgers later in the stanza gave the Irish a 14-0 lead after one quarter. A 28-yard Alex Jones field goal upped the margin to 17-0 early in the second period, and a three-yard run from Griffin Dishner gave the Irish a 24-0 halftime advantage. Kuerschen found the end zone again early in the third quarter, grabbing a six-yard scoring pass from Jancek. Jancek’s third touchdown pass of the evening came later in the quarter when he connected on a 40-yard strike to Dom Souder. Jancek finished the evening 18-of-24 for 193 yards. Kuerschen and Logan Lacey each had five receptions. Augie Fortune led the Irish defense with ten tackles, including one for-loss. Austin Rowan added nine stops, including a TFL and a sack. Jones Albritton had eight tackles and two interceptions for the Irish.

 

WEEK FOUR – Catholic improved to 4-0 with its 55-7 home win over Tyner Academy. A one-yard run from Logan Lacey capped an opening seven-play, 77-yard drive. Zac Jancek connected with Chase Kuerschen on a 47-yard scoring pass less than three minutes later. A 31-yard Jancek-to-Lacey connection moved the score to 21-0 (cont’d)

after one quarter. Jancek’s third touchdown pass, a 14-yarder to Dom Souder, began a 34-point second quarter barrage. A one-yard run from Amari Rodgers upped the margin to 35-0. Kuerschen’s second touchdown reception came on a 10-yard, one-handed grab from Cooper Edenfield. Edenfield then followed with a six-yard scoring dash. Catholic’s final score of the evening came when Souder fell on a bad punt snap in the end zone for a touchdown. Jancek finished the evening 9-of-12 passing for 186 yards. Kuerschen had five grabs for 128 yards. Rodgers led the rushing attack with 33 yards on four carries. Josh Silvey led the Irish defense with 11 tackles, including three TFL’s and two sacks. Austin Rowan had 10.5 tackles, including five TFL’s. Souder, Corey Ostrowski, and Will Mullally had fumble recoveries for the Irish.

WEEK THREE – Catholic enjoyed an open date.

WEEK TWO – Catholic moved its record to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in District 4AA with its 70-23 win at CAK. The Irish trailed, 10-0, and 17-7 before proceeding to outscore the Warriors 63-6 over the final three quarters. Zac Jancek, who was named PrepXtra Offensive Player of the Week for his performance, accounted for five touchdowns on the evening. Jancek had rushing touchdowns of 39-, 6-, and 18-yards, and had scoring passes to Logan Lacey (22 yards) and Chase Kuerschen (48 yards). Jancek finished the evening with seven rushes for 95 yards, and was 13-of-22 passing for 187 yards. Amari Rodgers led the Irish rushing attack with 148 yards and two touchdowns (72 and 38 yards) on nine carries. Catholic ground out 382 rushing yards for the game. Rodgers also scored on a 47-yard interception return.. Lacey (one yard) and Matt Carson (one yard) also had rushing touchdowns for the Irish. Dom Souder led the Irish defense with nine tackles, while Tony Scott and Josh Silvey added eight tackles each. Austin Rowan collected 6.5 tackles, including 3.5 sacks. Augie Fortune also had an interception.

WEEK ONE – Catholic improved to 2-0 on the 2014 campaign with its 61-0 win at home over Coalfield. The Irish posted 41 first-quarter points, then added 20 points in the second stanza. Dom Souder opened the scoring with his 19-yard pass from Zac Jancek. Jancek then connected with Logan Lacey on a 15-yard scoring play. On the following Coalfield possession, Lacey scooped up a fumble and went in from eight yards. Souder’s second scoring grab from Jancek, a 26-yarder, upped the margin to 27-0. Lacey followed with a five-yard dash, and Tony Scott ended the first-quarter scoring with his 11-yard run. Cam Whaley had a four-yard run early in the second quarter, with  Griffin Dishner (55 yards) and Moses Davis (48 yards) adding long second-quarter scoring runs. Of Catholic’s eight scoring drives, six were of the one-play variety. Jancek was 5-of-5 passing for 74 yards and three touchdowns. Fifteen different players had rushing attempts for the Irish, led by Joshua Brown with 72 yards on four carries. Catholic had 420 yards total offense on the evening. Catholic’s defense was stout, allowing Coalfield just 77 yards in total offense. Morgan Ernst had eight stops for the Irish, including three for-loss. Jay Smolens also had eight tackles, while Connor Ostrowski added seven. Austin Rowan had three tackles-for-loss. Sammy Nelson recorded his second interception of the season, while Davis also had a pick.

WEEK ZERO – Catholic opened its 2014 season with a 15-12 win at Notre Dame. The Irish scored on their opening drive of the season, going 55 yards in six plays. Amari Rodgers raced into the end zone from 25 yards out to give Catholic a 6-0 lead. A two-point conversion pass from Logan Lacey to Augie Fortune upped the margin to 8-0. Following a Notre Dame touchdown, Catholic scored later in the opening quarter when Zac Jancek connected with Jordan Anderson on a 44-yard scoring strike. Jake Poczobut’s extra point left the Irish ahead 15-6 after one quarter.  Notre Dame added third- and fourth-quarter field goals to account for the final margin. Jancek was 21-of-35 passing for a career-high 268 yards. Chase Kuerschen had nine catches for a career-high 133 yards. Anderson also topped the century mark with five catches for 102 yards. Catholic had 427 yards in total offense on the evening. Fortune and Corey Ostrowski led the Irish defense with 12 tackles each. Austin Rowan had 11 stops, while Logan Lacey and Dom Souder had ten tackles each. The Irish had 18 tackles-for-loss in the game, including six by Rowan and five by Ostrowski. Kuerschen and Sammy Nelson had interceptions for the Irish.

TEAM STATS – Catholic averages 432.2 yards per-game in total offense, including 228.2 yards on the ground and 204.0 yards through the air. Defensively, Catholic allows 201.8 yards per-game, including 87.0 yards on the ground and 114.8 yards through the air. Catholic averages 48.0 points per-game. Opponents average 9.3 points per-game.

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

Rushing: Amari Rodgers – 26 att., 247 yds., 4 TD

Passing: Zac Jancek – 83-122-4, 1,180 yds., 14 TD

Receiving: Chase Kuerschen – 31 rec., 531 yds., 5 TD

Scoring: Logan Lacey – 42 pts.

Tackles: Austin Rowan – 54

Tackles for loss: Austin Rowan – 21

Sacks: Austin Rowan – 5

Interceptions: Jones Albritton, Moses Davis, Chase Kuerschen, Sammy Nelson — 2

PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Catholic has had one player selected as PrepXtra Player of the Week this season. Here’s a look

PLAYER                   OPPONENT              STATS

Zac Jancek                  CAK                           7 att, 95 yds, 3TD; 13-22-1, 187 yds, 2TD

 

 

PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Catholic has had two players selected as WBIR/USA Today Player of the Week. Here’s a look:

PLAYER                   OPPONENT              STATS

Austin Rowan             Tyner                           10.5 tackles, 5 TFL, .5 sack

Jones Albritton            Hardin Valley             8 tackles, 2 INT, 1 fumble caused

FAST START – Catholic has outscored its opponents 225-43 in the first half this season.

 

 

NOT MANY POINTS – The Irish defense has allowed just 13 points (two field goals and one touchdown) in the second half this season.

 

 

100-YARD RUSHERS – Catholic has had two 100-yard rusher in 2014. Here’s a look:

PLAYER                   OPPONENT              ATT-YDS-TD

Amari Rodgers            CAK                           9-148-2

Moses Davis                Kingston                     8-126-2

 

TURNOVER MARGIN – Catholic is +14 in turnover margin this season. The Irish have thrown four interceptions and have lost two fumbles. Opponents have thrown 11 interceptions and lost nine fumbles.

 

CENTURY MARK – Catholic has had four 100-yard receiving performances this season. Here’s a look:

Player                         Opponent       Rec-Yds-TD

Chase Kuerschen        Notre Dame    9-133-0

Jordan Anderson         Notre Dame    5-102-1

Chase Kuerschen        Tyner               5-128-2

Chase Kuerschen        Kingston         9-169-1

 

DOUBLE-DIGIT TACKLES – Catholic has had en double-digit tackle efforts this season. Here’s a look:

Player                         Opponent                   Tackles

Augie Fortune             Notre Dame                12

Corey Ostrowski         Notre Dame                12

Austin Rowan             Notre Dame                11

Logan Lacey               Notre Dame                10

Dom Souder                Notre Dame                10

Josh Silvey                  Tyner                           12

Austin Rowan             Tyner                           10.5

Augie Fortune             Hardin Valley             10

Austin Rowan             Kingston                     13

Corey Ostrowski         Kingston                     12

 

THE LAST GO ‘ROUND – Catholic’s 2014 roster includes 18 seniors. Included are Jordan Anderson (RB/DB), Zac Jancek (QB/DB), Logan Lacey (RB/LB), Sammy Nelson (WR/DB)m Tim Quayle (RB/DB), Donovan Ricche (WR/DB), Dom Souder (WR/DB), Brandon LoCascio (WR/DB), Alex Jones (K), Connor Ostrowski (FB/LB), Jay Smolens (RB/LB), Corey Ostrowski (OL/DL), Blake Mayo (TE/LB), Chris Jackson (OL/DL), Christian Atwater (OL/DL), Brandon Morgan (OL/DL), Carter Edmunds (OL/DL), and Luis Soto (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 (Defensive Line), J.J. Surlas (Outside Linebackers), Jason Surlas (Defensive Backs), and David Ball (Strength & Conditioning).

 

ON TV – Tonight’s game is being broadcast on WBIR 10News2. Russell Biven calls the action, while Tony Rogers provides analysis.

 

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 will visit District 4AA foe Scott next week. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.