Central Catholic will host Grambling on Friday

No. 3 Central Catholic High School will start the Division IV postseason at home as the squad will face No. 14 Grambling in first-round action Friday night.
Grambling comes into the contest with a 6-4 overall mark and finished 4-3 in District 1-1A.
However, among their wins was a 38-22 victory against Arcadia, the No. 7 seed in the Class 1A playoffs.
Central Catholic coach Tommy Minton said the Kittens’ size is something that sticks out on film.
“They have tremendous size along both lines and even some of their skill people — linebackers, tight ends — very good-sized kids,” Minton said. “That’s the first thing that you notice. They got a couple of skill people (Jerome Hudson and Archie Amos), very, very fast, big-play type kids that we are going to have to contain.”
Hudson has rushed 108 times for 857 yards and six touchdowns this season, while Amos has 14 receptions for 454 yards and three touchdowns. He has also returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, while Hudson has scored on a punt return this season.
Joining Hudson to lead Grambling’s rushing attack is Austin Andrews, who has rushed 90 times for 850 yards and eight touchdowns.
Minton said Grambling will mostly run a wing-T offense, but when they have fallen behind, he said they have switched to a spread look.
“They want to base out of a wing T,” Minton said.
Quarterback Shawn Brantley has completed 40 of 119 passes for 869 yards with two touchdowns and 10 interceptions, while he has rushed 50 times for 246 yards and five scores.
Darius Williams has caught 12 passes for 219 yards.
Defensively, players of note are tackles Taviuhn Turner and Anthony Martin and middle linebacker Tyrek Mitchell, who also plays tight end.
“They like to play man coverage,” Minton said of the Kittens’ scheme. “They like to put a lot of people in the box, which is nothing that we haven’t seen in the last half of this season. They’ll mix it up from a five- and six-man front and keep a lot of guys around the line of scrimmage.”
Meanwhile, Central Catholic (9-1) comes into this week’s contest with some momentum after knocking off Division IV’s top team, Ascension Episcopal, 46-22, in both team’s regular season finale. The Eagles’ victory spoiled a perfect season for the Blue Gators and gave the two teams, along with Vermilion Catholic, each a share of the District 7-1A title with identical 6-1 marks.
“You won a big game the last week of the regular season, so it should give you some momentum going into the playoffs, no doubt,” Minton said. “Hopefully we can capitalize on that and continue to play well.”
The Eagles are led this season by running back Stefano Guarisco, who is ranked third in the state in rushing in all classes and first in scoring. He has rushed for 2,352 yards on 256 carries with 37 touchdowns this season, while he has scored 314 points (43 touchdowns and 28 two-point conversions).
Guarisco also is the team’s second-leading receiver with 12 receptions for 297 yards and four touchdowns.
Greg Leger leads the team in receiving with 11 catches for 370 yards and four touchdowns.
Quarterback Blake Byrne has completed 40 of 74 passes for 835 yards with 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions this season.
Friday’s game will begin at 7 p.m.