St. Mary Central Catholic finds sought-after consistency to beat Danbury

SANDUSKY — Coming off a tough 33-8 loss versus the Tri-State Crusaders, SMCC's focus in Week 5 was to steady itself. "Lately the past couple weeks we've come out and lost ourselves, so we just want to be more consistent moving forward," senior QB Ayden Kresser said. On Saturday night, the Panthers' (2-3) consistency was on display on offense, defense, and special teams as they defeated Danbury (1-3). 16-6, at Strobel Field in 8-man football action. SMCC started strong on the very first play by forcing a fumble on the opening kickoff. That set up a nosedive TD by Kresser, his first of two on the evening, with less than a minute gone in the game. The Panthers' early score gave them a lead that would stand for the rest of the contest. With less than two minutes to go in the first half, Danbury had an opportunity to put points on the board. Quarterback Jacob Mischler led the Lakers down the field on an eight-play, 66-yard drive to put his offense in scoring position. The Panthers' defense had other ideas. Mischler dropped back with 31.4 seconds on the clock, only to be greeted by an on-rushing SMCC defensive front, led by junior linebacker Mason Kolycheck. That sack by Kolycheck halted the Danbury drive and preserved the 8-0 lead going into half. Midway through the 4th quarter, SMCC moved into the red zone with a chance to go up two scores. But Kresser was pressured on a bootleg and threw into double coverage, where Danbury defensive back Andy Zelms waited and made an interception. Once again, though, the Panthers defense was there to stonewall a potential Lakers score. With 4:45 to go, Mischler rolled out of the pocket and tossed a ball downfield only to be picked off by senior Andrew Fullam at the SMCC 34-yard line. The change of possession gave Kresser the chance to make up for his prior error, and he would not be denied. A few plays later, he took a direct snap up the middle and waltzed through the defense untouched for a 54-yard touchdown. Kresser credited his blockers for the opening. "Line did terrific tonight," Kresser said. "They really proved themselves. One thing we wanted to do on offense was run it up their throat." The Panthers achieved that goal and then some, as they dominated all three sides of the ball on the way to a bounceback victory. Danbury's only score came with the game out of reach on a 36-yard pass from Mischler to Cade McCarthy. "We're a hell of a team if we can put it together," Kresser said. "That's our biggest problem right now is we're inconsistent." Now, SMCC turns its attention to the team that defeated them a week ago: the Tri-State Crusaders. "I told the guys in the huddle, 'Go have fun tonight, but tomorrow, come in with a chip on your shoulder, a little revenge for Tri-State,'" Kresser said. Danbury 0 0 0 6 — 6St. Mary CC 8 0 8 0 — 16 SM — Ayden Kresser 3 run (Conversion Jaxon Mashari pass from Kresser) SM — Kresser 54 run (Conversion Parker Kasper pass from Kresser) D — Cade McCarthy 36 pass from Mischler (Conversion no good) GALLERY: [Album Placeholder (use source code to remove)]