Central Catholic wins overtime thriller over Natick

NATICK A battle-tested Central Catholic had just enough to squeak out a accomplishment on the road Friday night Junior Caden Smith scored from three yards out in overtime to lift No Central Catholic over No Natick - in the Div quarterfinals Our kids hung in there and we battled in the second half declared Raiders coach John Sexton Certainly defensively we battled Natick - got the ball first in overtime and senior captain Emmanuel Lizaardo came up with a huge tackle for loss to send the Redhawks back four yards Two incomplete passes later sophomore Brayden Lewis drilled a -yard field goal after he missed a -yard attempt at the end of regulation From there Central Catholic - got a huge seven-yard run from senior captain Caden Chase to set up the eventual game-winner for Smith I commented to coach Sexton to give me the ball in overtime Smith disclosed about the game-winning rushing amount He trusted me and I trust him We got the job done In the first half Central Catholic came out ready to play as they took the ball yards on plays with senior captain Chase punching it in from yards out to make it - with left in the first After a turnover on downs for Natick the Raiders once again located paydirt as they marched yards on plays again as this time Caden Smith kept it for a three-yard rushing points to push the lead to - with left in the second Catholic Central's Anthony Garcia left breaks up the end zone pass to Natick's Brandon during an overtime thriller Friday Central won - Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill Boston Herald I ve kind of been on them all about starting fast Sexton stated about getting out to the - lead The first six weeks of the season we really were kind of sound asleep when the bell went off The last couple of weeks we have played better Tonight was better and we kind of went to sleep in the middle of the challenge but credit that to Natick They did particular things that we hadn t seen and that I hadn t anticipated coming in Natick answered back just four plays later as junior Matt Caissie hit junior Brandon Leshinski for a -yard TD grab to cut the deficit in half - The Redhawks then forced a punt on defense with to go in the first half and ate up all but seconds of the battle clock to tally on a three-yard rush for senior captain James Mortarelli to make it a - contest at the half In the second half Natick turned the ball over on downs on their opening possession and neither band could get anything going offensively until the Redhawks completed a couple deep passes to set up the field goal attempt that was no good at the end of regulation In their first state semifinal since the Raiders will face off against top-seeded St John s Prep and after losing to them - earlier in the season they are ready for a rematch The biggest thing is the job s not finished mentioned Smith about facing St John s Prep next week We re zero and zero right now That s the mindset we are going in with