Detroit Catholic Central outlasts Orchard Lake St. Mary's in the 37th Prep Bowl, 7-0

Joshua Charles | MLive.com

DETROIT--With Detroit Catholic Central leading 7-0 with 4:13 to go and 4th down facing Orchard Lake St. Mary's in the 37th Prep Bowl it was up to the Detroit Catholic Central defense to stand tall one last time.

Senior linebacker Butch Herzog intercepted St. Mary's quarterback Robert Bolden to all but seal the schools 15th Prep Bowl title.

"It was a big play. I didn't really know what was going to happen at the time," said Herzog. "I just read his eyes and all I could think was my chance is here. I made the interception and ran for my life."

The Shamrocks took the lead with 5:37 to go in the fourth quarter on an Anthony Capatina touchdown run. Capatina finished the game with 60 yards on 19 carries and the games only touchdown.

The Capatina touchdown was set-up by a third down conversion by quarterback Sam Landry.

The Shamrocks faced a 3rd down and 10 from the St. Mary's 39 yard line when Landry escaped the pocket and found receiver Tom Voutsos for a 25 yard gain. The pass play set up a Catholic Central first down inside the Eaglets 15 yard line and ultimately the games winning touchdown.

St. Mary's return man Gary Hunter took the ensuing kickoff 69 yards down to the Catholic Central 13 yard line to set up the games final stand.

"We've played them twice and every time that we've played them we tried not to kick it to #2 (Hunter)," said Detroit Catholic Central coach Tom Mach. "He is a very explosive player and we squibed it and it ended up right down the middle to him."

Defenses reigned supreme throughout the game. St Mary's managed to gain 91 yards while Catholic Central gained 102 yards.

Catholic Central had the only scoring opportunity in the first half as Justin D'Agostino missed a 36 yard field goal at the 5:19 mark of the second quarter, which kept the score deadlocked at zero in the first half.

St. Mary's quarterback Robert Bolden was contained by the Catholic Central defense all game long. Bolden went 6-16 passing for 30 yards with an interception and was held to just 26 yards on 11 carries.

The two teams played earlier in the season with Detroit Catholic Central dominating that contest, defeating St. Mary's 27-0 on September 26th .

"Well our team played great defense today," said Orchard Lake St. Mary's coach George Porritt. "I'm very proud of our defense. They just had one better drive then we did. They're a great football team."

The two Catholic league rivals now await their future first round opponents in the state playoffs which will be determined Sunday evening.

Detroit Catholic Central finished the regular season 9-0 (4-0) and champions of the Detroit Catholic League, while Orchard Lake St. Mary's finished 4-4 (3-1).

Prep Football

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