NATICK – A battle-tested Central Catholic had simply sufficient to squeak out a victory on the street Friday evening.
Junior Caden Smith scored from three yards out in extra time to raise No. 5 Central Catholic over No. 4 Natick 20-17 within the Div. 1 quarterfinals.
“Our youngsters hung in there and we battled within the second half,” mentioned Raiders coach John Sexton. “Actually, defensively we battled.”
Natick (7-3) acquired the ball first in extra time, and senior captain Emmanuel Lizaardo got here up with an enormous sort out for loss to ship the Redhawks again 4 yards. Two incomplete passes later, sophomore Brayden Lewis drilled a 31-yard discipline objective after he missed a 39-yard try on the finish of regulation.
From there, Central Catholic (7-3) acquired an enormous seven-yard run from senior captain Caden Chase to arrange the eventual game-winner for Smith.
“I mentioned to educate Sexton to offer me the ball in extra time,” Smith mentioned concerning the game-winning dashing rating. “He trusted me and I belief him. We acquired the job finished.”
Within the first half, Central Catholic got here out able to play as they took the ball 74 yards on 10 performs with senior captain Chase punching it in from yards out to make it 7-0 with 5:18 left within the first.
After a turnover on downs for Natick, the Raiders as soon as once more discovered paydirt as they marched 74 yards on 10 performs once more as this time Caden Smith stored it for a three-yard dashing rating to push the result in 14-0 with 10:51 left within the second.
“I’ve sort of been on all of them about beginning quick,” Sexton mentioned about getting out to the 14-0 lead. “The primary six weeks of the season, we actually had been sort of napping when the bell went off. The final couple of weeks we’ve performed higher. … Tonight was higher and we sort of went to sleep in the course of the sport, however credit score that to Natick. They did some issues that we hadn’t seen and that I hadn’t anticipated coming in.”
Natick answered again simply 4 performs later as junior Matt Caissie hit junior Brandon Leshinski for a 48-yard TD seize to chop the deficit in half, 14-7.
The Redhawks then pressured a punt on protection with 3:15 to go within the first half and ate up all however 29 seconds of the sport clock to attain on a three-yard rush for senior captain James Mortarelli to make it a 14-14 contest on the half.
Within the second half, Natick turned the ball over on downs on their opening possession and neither crew might get something going offensively till the Redhawks accomplished a pair deep passes to arrange the sphere objective try that was no good on the finish of regulation.
Of their first state semifinal since 2022, the Raiders will face off towards top-seeded St. John’s Prep and, after shedding to them 47-21 earlier within the season, they’re prepared for a rematch.
“The largest factor is the job’s not completed,” mentioned Smith about dealing with St. John’s Prep subsequent week. “We’re zero and 0 proper now. That’s the mindset we’re stepping into with.”
