Guarisco, freshman quarterback O'con propel Eagles to win

Guarisco, freshman QB propels Eagles to 28-21 win
Without its starting quarterback, Central Catholic relied heavily on running back Stefano Guarisco to hold on to a 28-21 lead Friday against the Ascension Episcopal Blue Gators.
Quarterback Blake Byrne was out with an injury Friday, so Guarisco and freshman quarterback Tyler O’con shared quarterback duties. Still, the Eagles mostly stayed on the ground with Guarisco carrying the ball 49 times for 244 yards and three touchdowns.
Central Catholic Head Coach Tommy Minton said time of possession was key in the game and called Guarisco a “warrior.”
“He’s one of the most competitive kids I’ve coached in 29 years,” Minton said. “When you call his number, he’s going to give you everything he’s got.”
The final couple minutes of the first quarter turned out to be the most eventful part of the game.
The Eagles took advantage of a blocked punt to give Central Catholic the ball at Ascension Episcopal’s 8-yard line. Guarisco ran the ball 8 yards for the score with 2:20 left in the quarter.
The Blue Gators responded with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Jake Arceneaux to Brennan Ducote.
Central Catholic answered right back when Jalen Johnson returned the kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown with 0:48 to go in the first quarter.
Ascension Episcopal then lost a fumble on its next possession but quickly got the ball back after intercepting a Guarisco pass, returning it to the Eagles’ 4-yard line. Ducote then ran the ball in for the touchdown at the start of the second quarter.
Guarisco would add another touchdown run with 4:33 left in the second quarter to give the Eagles a 21-14 lead going into halftime.
Central Catholic scored on its opening drive of the third quarter, going 74 yards while taking 4:59 off the clock. Guarisco ran the ball in 13 yards for a touchdown.
Shortly before the end of the third quarter, the Eagles were threatening to score again with the ball on the Ascension Episcopal 9-yard line, but O’con threw an interception.
That turnover set up an 81-yard Ascension Episcopal scoring drive, capped by a 53-yard touchdown pass from Arceneaux to Zach Ronquillo with 9:01 to play in the fourth quarter.
Central Catholic then just took advantage of the clock on its final drive, letting Guarisco run the ball on 17 of its 18 plays before running the clock out.
The Eagles did a great job of adapting without their starting quarterback, Minton said.
“I had a freshman that came in and threw some good balls for us,” Minton said of O’con, who had previously not taken a snap this season before Friday night. “It was a matter of everybody picked up the slack,” Minton said. “It was a great team effort.”
Scoring on the opening drive of the second half was key for the Eagles, giving Central Catholic a two-score lead, Minton said.
However, Ascension Episcopal’s interception on the Eagles’ 3rd-and-goal play from the Blue Gators’ 9-yard line at the end of the third quarter kept Ascension Episcopal in the game, Minton said.
Ascension Episcopal Coach Mike Desormeaux said his team had opportunities, but the Blue Gators did not make enough plays.
Desormeaux called Guarisco a great athlete.
“I don’t know if you can find somebody who wants it any more than him,” Desormeaux said. “He did a great job, and I’ll give him a lot of credit, give Central Catholic a lot of credit.”
Still, Desormeaux was proud of his team’s fight.
“When you make as many mistakes as we did early, it’s hard to fight out of it against a good team,” Desormeaux said. “We just didn’t make enough plays when we had to.”
With the loss, Ascension Episcopal fell to 5-2 on the season.
Additional reporting by www.theadvocate.com/sports
“We’re in a position now where if we run it, you have a share of district,” Desormeaux said. “For us, it’s a great position to be in. We just gotta hit the grindstone. We gotta get back to it next week. We gotta get better. We’re not there yet.”
Central Catholic improved to 5-2 on the season and will play at home Thursday against Lafayette Christian.