Fremont Ross football falls to TRAC champ Central Catholic on road
TOLEDO ― Fremont Ross senior Elijah Simms didn't back down Friday.
Central Catholic beat the Little Giants 42-0 for its 31st consecutive victory in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference. The Fighting Irish have claimed the last five conference championships.
Simms held on to a couple passes and tried to secure a few more after he was smoked by a defender. When Ross was burned for two touchdowns over the top, Simms found Little Giants coach Chad Long on the sideline.
Simms wasn't leaving the field, he couldn't wait to insist he cover Central Catholic's Dur'yea Hall. Ty'Waun Clark connected with Hall for scores of 21 and 60 yards in the first half.
"That's awesome," Long said. "It shows you he wants to cover their best guy. We know that kid. He gives 100%. He does whatever he can for the team. He goes from Will linebacker to safety to corner, in the same game.
"The kid will do whatever, and he's smart enough to do it."
Simms had a game-high seven receptions, for 72 yards. He had four solo tackles.
"He's a tough kid, there's no doubt about it," Long said. "He's 160 pounds at outside linebacker. He comes across the middle and gets hit. He got drilled. He takes his lumps, gets up again and he plays tough. He has that wrestling mentality.
"He'll come back and get you the next play."
Chris Edmonds rushed for 152 yards on 13 carries. He scored from 62 yards in the first half and 55 yards to cap the scoring early in the third quarter.
Clark added a 51-yard scoring run and tossed an 8-yard touchdown pass to Mekhi Warren.
Central Catholic (8-1, 6-0) had 365 yards of offense, including 242 rushing on 27 carries.
"They ran the football," Long said. "They had two beautiful catches on fade routes on the single-coverage side. We knew what they were doing. When you face a good team and you know what they're going to do and you can't stop it, it gets frustrating.
"We were pushed out of the hole. They were better than us on this day. We might see them down the road."
Central Catholic is third and Ross fifth in Division II's Region 6.
Ross had 209 yards of offense. Kaden Holmes completed 13 of 29 passes for 122 yards and rushed for 35 yards on nine tries.
"They did a good job getting pressure on Kaden," Long said. "Our offensive line held up pretty good. They disguised a lot in the secondary. They're a good team in all three phases."
Simms caught a pass for 32 yards to the 26 in the first quarter. The Little Giants turned it over on downs from the edge of the red zone.
Holmes rushed for 23 and 18 yards before Adam Hrynciw caught a third-down pass for a first down at the 23. Two passes to the end zone were incomplete to end the second quarter.
Long was encouraged by Holmes' mentality as well. Holmes missed last week's game because of injury.
"Coming out at the half, he told me he's playing defense again next week," Long said. "That tells me he's feeling good. I love that. He's a leader and he gets us going. If Kaden's out there, there's no two touchdowns on fades."
mhorn@gannett.com
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Twitter: @MatthewHornNH
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Fremont Ross football falls to conference champ Fighting Irish
