Toledo Central Catholic had too much for Bowling Green, especially in the second half.
The Irish, who were bigger, faster and had more depth, led 21-20 at the half, but pulled away in the
second 24 minutes to post a 41-20 victory in the season opener for both teams. PHOTO
GALLERY
“They obviously were a big challenge for us,” BG head coach Jeff Cullen said. “When it’s just our
starting 11 versus their 11, it’s hard enough, but we can battle them a little bit.
“But we started getting guys hurt real quick and then their backups got hurt and from about the middle of
the second quarter on, we were just kind of making up formations with kids we had to shift around just
to put any kind of offense together,” Cullen added. “For the most part our kids played their hearts out.
Guys that were hurt got back out there and played as best as they could. We had guys just play to the
point of exhaustion and we had to take them out.”
Central scored the first two touchdowns of the game, but the Bobcats rallied with an 80-yard scoring pass
from Derek Miller to Jonathan Stoner and a 35-yard interception return for a TD from Derek Batt. Batt’s
score and the successful PAT tied the game at 14 with 3:56 to play in the first half. On the long TD
pass, Miller rolled right and hit Stoner who was behind two defenders. Stoner then raced the last 40
yards into the end zone.
After Batt’s score, it took the Irish only three plays to respond after a kickoff return to near
midfield. David Walender’s 38-yard pass to Nate Hobbs for the TD and the PAT put Central up 21-14 with
3:03 to play in the half. Both Hobbs, who started, and Walender saw action at quarterback for the Irish.

The Bobcats responded with a 75-yard drive to score with only 9.8 seconds left in the half. During the
drive, Miller had to leave the game for one play, but Cole Jennings came in and connected with Jake
Wisniewski with a 10-yard pass on a 3rd-and-11. Miller then came back in, and on a quick count, picked
up the first down on a quarterback sneak. Three plays later, Miller again rolled to the right and found
James Peet with a 23-yard scoring pass. The PAT failed and BG was down one at the half.
Whatever momentum Bowling Green gained in the second quarter, quickly vanished in the third quarter. BG
received the second-half kickoff and quickly picked up nine yards on a first-down pass. Central then
forced eight yards in losses on the next two plays to force a punt. The Bobcats could never really
recover.
After the defensive stop, the Irish put together a 61-yard scoring drive, using 10 plays and taking 4:21
off the clock, to go up 28-20. Calbee Goings carried the ball seven times for 45 yards on the drive,
including the final two for the TD. Goings benefited from good blocking by his big offensive line and
finished the game with 137 yards on 24 carries and three scores.
BG threw an interception on the second play of its next possession and TCC scored two plays later, on
Goings’ 24-yard run, to go up 35-20. The Irish added two field goals in the fourth quarter.
“In the second half … We just kept getting guys banged up and hurt. And when they (Central) started
subbing people, their subs are pretty good and our guys are tired and hurt. So it got one-sided,” Cullen
said.
The Bobcats were hampered by two lost fumbles and two interceptions in the game. Central had one
touchdown called back because of holding, Jennings intercepted a pass in the end zone to stop a drive
and then Batt’s interception went for a TD.
In addition to Goings’ 137 yards, Hobbs gained 84 yards in the ground, including a 53-yard scoring run,
in addition to his scoring reception. The Irish finished with 374 total yards on offense, including 283
yards in the ground.
“We may be a little bit disappointed with some of the tackling, maybe a little too high or something like
that,” Cullen said. “Our defense held up pretty good for most of the game, but then just got tired and
worn down.”
Stoner led BG with three receptions for 139 yards as Miller threw for 188 yards. However, BG managed only
49 positive yards on the ground.
“We had trouble blocking some big guys on their defensive line and that just destroyed some of the things
we thought we could do running the ball. We got very, very limited,” Cullen said.
“We know we have some good players and we made some really, really nice plays (on offense). But we turned
it over too many times. That was a big problem. It’s going to be tough to beat anybody doing that,”
Cullen added.
The Bobcats host Fostoria next Friday.
CENTRAL CATHOLIC 41, BGHS 20
TOLEDO CENTRAL CATHOLIC
7
14
14
6
—41
BGHS
20
—20
CC — Hobbs, 53 run (Burkhardt kick)
CC — Goings, 3 run (Burkhardt kick)
BG — Stoner, 80 pass from Miller (Zirkes kick)
BG — Batt, 35 interception return (Zirkes kick)
CC — Hobbs, 38 pass from Walender (Burkhardt kick)
BG — Peet, 23 pass from Miller (kick failed)
CC — Goings, 2 run (Burkhardt kick)
CC — Goings, 24 run (Burkhardt kick)
CC — Burkhardt, 42 field goal
CC — Burkhardt, 37 field goal
TEAM STATISTICS
Category
CC
BG
First downs
17
7
By rushing
13
2
By passing
4
5
By penalty
Total net yards
374
247
Rushing
281
49
Passing
94
198
Attempts
15
13
Completions
6
8
Interceptions
2
2
Punts/average
2/28.5
6/32.8
Penalties/yards
4/30
9/50
Fumbles/lost
1-0
2-2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: (CC) Goings, 24-137; Hobbs, 6084; Walender, 1-4; Stump, 1-0; Garcia, 8-52; Hollins, 2-1;
Victorian, 2-5; (BG) Batt, 5-(minus 2); Wisniewski, 1-1; Miller, 15-24; Shull, 1-(minus 1);
Ludwig, 1-(minus 2); Steffen, 3-14; Jennings, 2-Minus 12); Spencer, 2-27.
PASSING: (CC) Hobbs, 3-6-2—25; Walender, 3-9-0—69; (BG) Miller, 7-23-1—188; Jennings, 1-1-0—10; Spencer,
0-0-0—0.
RECEIVING: (CC) Stump, 3-32; Cochell, 1-22; Hobbs, 1-38; Lewandowski, 1-2; ; (BG) Stoner, 3-139; Peet,
2-32; Wisniewski, 1-10; Ludwig, 2-17.
Photo caption: BG’s Derek Batt (11) celebrates after scoring a touchdown (J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune).