Division 1 - Shamrocks Run Past Titans 31-21
This game is a classic. It pits the proverbial great offense against a great defense. Sterling Heights and their quarterback Jason Fracassa will throw the ball all over the place. They are wearing white jerseys with white pants that have a blue strip. Detroit Catholic Central doesn’t pass much. The Shamrocks tend to run run run and pass when the situation calls for it. They are wearing blue jerseys with white pants with two blue stripes and one red one. The crowd for the game was probably the biggest of the weekend.
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Stevenson scored first. They moved the ball down the field thanks to a 32 yard reception from Fracassa to Marcus Beurem. David Brown was able to make a 37 yard field goal to start the scoring at the 10:30 mark of the first. When DCC got the ball back, they ran on every play until they found the end zone with an Anthony Capatina two yard score. The Titans couldn’t get going on the second possession and soon gave it back to DCC. Again, the Shamrocks marched right down the field and scored again, pushing the score to 14-3. On the ensuing drive, Fracassa finally felt comfortable and they moved the ball. A pass interference call in the end zone gave the Titans a fresh set of downs at the 13 of DCC. Soon after, they faced another fourth down and elected to kick, but the field goal sailed right. The missed field goal gave the Shamrocks the ball on their 20. DCC moved the ball well but their drive stalled and their fourth down field goal attempt was blocked by Demetrus Heard. On the ensuing possession, a SHS punt attempt was blocked and gave DCC the ball at the Titan 14.  Four plays later, Niko Palazeti scored from two yards out.
Detroit Catholic Central couldn’t score on their first possession of the half and punted to Stevenson. Titan quarterback Fracassa found D.J. Mershman for a 41 yard gain which got the ball down to the nine. They were not able to punch the ball in and kicked a chip shot field goal. After another three and out by Catholic Central, Fracassa found Mershman when he beat two defenders for a 75 yard scoring strike. The two point conversion made it a one TD game. Facing a fourth and maybe two chain links on their 29, DCC quarterback Sam Landry got the needed yardage on a quarterback sneak. On the next play, he found Justin Messner for a 25 yard completion. Capatina ran for a 20 yard gain down to the 25.
Facing a third and two to begin the fourth quarter, Palazeti gained five yards and gave his team a fresh set of downs. Capatina finished the drive with a nine yard touchdown run. Fracassa went deep on the next drive, but Andrew Nelson came up with an interception on the 30. A personal foul penalty pushed the ball back to the 15. Capatina had another nice run, using his fullback Palazeti as a lead blocker and cutting away from the defenders and racing 51 yards down to the 17. DCC couldn’t get much more and D’Agostino kicked a 33 yard field goal to give them 31 points. Fracassa locked onto Mershman to help get down the field and Justice Wright for the extra help into the end zone. The 68 play drive lasted 2:30 and made the score 31-21. An intercepted ended the game.
Detroit Catholic Central stuck with the game plan they utilized most of the season. Run the ball with Palazeti and Capatina and only pass when forced to. The duo combined for 335 yards on 54 attempts. Capatina ran 20 times for 189 yards and two touchdowns. Palazeti ran 34 times for 146 and two more scores. He was the workhorse of the game. Quarterback Sam Landry completed two of his six passes for 34 yards. 25 of those went to Justin Messner. For Sterling Heights Stevenson, Jason Fracassa completed 15 of his 34 passes for 293 and two touchdowns. D.J. Mershman caught six balls for 162 yards and a touchdown. Even though Justice Wright had tore his ACL in the first round, he played today and caught three footballs for 56 yards and score a touchdown. Mike Kirksey was the leading rusher with two runs for 16 yards.
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