GACC routs Clarkson/Leigh

The Guardian Angels Central Catholic Football team scored at will in the second part of the first half in Friday night's 62-18 home win over Clarkson/Leigh.

The Bluejays' Derek Petz got the scoring started, running in a TD from 14 yards out to put GACC ahead 8-0 at the 4:40 mark of the 1st quarter.

Petz then hit Scribner-Snyder transfer Jadyn Smeal with a 27-yard TD pass, and the Bluejays went up 14-0 with 2:27 remaining in the opening period.

Ross Klitz added a touchdown of his own to give GACC a 20-0 lead with 1:41 left in the 1st quarter.

The Patriots got on the board in the 2nd quarter as Anthony Bruhn rumbled 45 yards to the end zone to cut the deficit to 20-6 with 11:34 left to go until halftime.

The Bluejays' Jared Minnick returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards for a score that put GACC up 26-6.

Clarkson/Leigh's Tommy McEvoy responded with a 49-yard TD run, and the Patriots trailed 26-12 with just over 11 minutes left to go until halftime.

Minnick then returned another kick for a touchdown, and GACC extended their lead to 34-12.

Minnick scored again 2 1/2 minutes later, this time on a 49-yard run that gave the Bluejays a 42-12 cushion.

Bruhn then hooked up with McEvoy on a 27-yard TD pass with 4:14 left to go until halftime that made it a 42-18 game in favor of GACC.

Petz hit Smeal with a 51-yard TD pass to extend the Bluejay lead to 48-18 with 3:38 left to go until halftime.

The final touchdown of the half was scored by Jayden Rahn, who hauled in a 31-yard pass from Petz to put GACC up 54-18 at the break.

Petz ran one in from 14 yards with just under 4 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter to make up the final score.

Petz was 6-9 for 132 yards with 3 TD passes while Minnick rushed the ball 11 times for 61 yards, and scored 3 all-purpose touchdowns. Petz added 55 yards on the ground on 8 carries with 2 TD's for the Bluejays (2-0).

GACC had 295 yards of total offense, including 163 rushing while Clarkson/Leigh amassed 220 yards of offense, 195 coming on the ground.

Head Coach Dave Ridder says his team needs to improve in several areas. "Form tackling and blocking's always an issue. And things we didn't do when they got a couple long runs we plain just didn't stay home. We got kids running up field and not taking care of their gap responsibility. And then once we got that settled down Jacob Yosten just played a great second half, and just took care of his gap. And when Jacob does things right he's pretty hard to stop both offensively and defensively."

The Bluejays are back in action Friday when they host Plainview (1-1).

Ridder says things get tougher with this game and the one next week. "Out of the top 20 kids I think they have 12 or 13 of those kids back. And quite a few starters back. Didn't play very well last week. And then I was kind of surprised at the Nebraska City Lourdes score because Falls City Sacred Heart put it on them pretty good last game. It was 50-14 or something like that. But yeah all those teams we expect a pretty good battle the next two weeks."

Normally I would be concerned about GACC looking ahead to the Nebraska City Lourdes contest, but I think the Pirates are a good enough team to have garnered the Bluejays' attention.

Minnick and company need to be ready to tear it up again, and take it to Plainview for four quarters.

GACC has to be relentless the way they were against Clarkson/Leigh.

The Bluejays figured some things out against the Patriots, in my opinion, and had a very strong offensive game.

I look for GACC to put it on the Pirates as well, and dominate the way they almost always do.

I really think the Bluejays will go undefeated in the regular season if they play like this.

Lourdes doesn't appear to be as good as they once were, and the only other team I could see challenging GACC is Pender.

The Bluejays have to keep playing quality football, and do everything they can to win and win big each and every week.

GACC has to be ready to take Plainview to the woodshed, and leave no doubt.

As many kids as the Pirates have back and as tough as they are it's the Bluejays we're talking about here.

I just don't see the Pirates being able to hang with GACC. I think the Bluejays are simply too strong a team for Plainview to hang with.

I look for Minnick and Petz to have very strong games in leading GACC to victory. The Bluejays are a very good team yet again this year.