RallyNorth.net

Fri, Mar 12, 2021 06:00 PM @ Lowell

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Central Catholic	10	14	14	0	38
Lowell	0	0	6	7	13

Highly-touted sophomore transfer Zinter shines in Central debut

Friday, March, 12 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

LOWELL — Central Catholic sophomore Preston Zinter wasted no time making a good first impression Friday night.

On Central’s first offensive play of the Fall 2 season, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound transfer from North Andover somehow hauled in a 37-yard pass from junior Ayden Pereira along the sideline despite extremely tight coverage.

That set up Central’s first touchdown of the night on the next play in a 38-13 defeat of Lowell and was only the start for Zinter, a transfer from BB&N.

For the night, he had five catches and a touchdown for 139 yards.

The touchdown catch, of 31 yards in the second quarter, was particularly impressive. Pereira didn’t seem to have an open receiver on the play so he just threw it high into the end zone. And somehow, Zinter jumped up and snared the ball with a Lowell defender all over him.

“It was definitely exciting to finally be out there and showcase my skills,” said Zinter, who played some tight end in addition to wide receiver and also made several tackles as an outside linebacker.Zinter reportedly already holds a scholarship offer from Michigan, where his brother, Zak, starts on the offensive line.

Central coach Chuck Adamopoulos was hardly surprised by Zinter’s debut as a Raider.

“He’s a good athlete and has assimilated onto the team really well,” said Adamopoulos. “He can do a lot. The play before he made that great catch (in the end zone), he made a great block for our other receiver.”

That other receiver was senior Mark Ciccarelli, who was one of several other Raiders who enjoyed terrific games in the season opener. He had an 18-yard TD reception, three catches overall for 41 yards, had two nifty punt returns and was a demon on defense.

Pereira, meanwhile, was 13 of 17 through the air for 212 yards and rushed for two TDs. Two of his completions went to senior Jermaine Wiggins for 33 yards.

Wiggins was also part of a ferocious defensive effort. The Red Raiders, who were playing their first game under former Salem, N.H coach Rob Pike, were limited to just four first downs and 29 yards of total offense.

In addition to Wiggins and Zinter, other Raiders who starred on defense were Ciccarelli, big Uyi Osayimwen and middle linebacker Tommy Casey.

Also standing out was senior kicker Nick Mazzie, who converted four extra points, a 31-yard field goal, booted it deep on kickoffs and had a TD-saving tackle on a Lowell kickoff return.

Central led easily at halftime, 24-0, and was ahead 31-0 before Lowell scored on a 13-yard run by Aaron Morris four plays after he ran a kickoff back 45 yards. Morris also scored Lowell’s other TD on a 61-yard interception return in the fourth quarter against Central’s reserves.

If there were any down sides for Central it was penalties, committing six for 60 yards including three for lining up in the neutral zone. But Adamopoulos wasn’t overly concerned.

“We definitely have some things to clean up, and we will,” said Adamopoulos. “You’ve got to remember this game was like a second scrimmage.

“Overall, I was really happy with the way we played. I liked the enthusiasm and we played hard on defense. That’s a solid team we just beat. They played Tewksbury tough in a scrimmage.” 

 

Central Catholic 38, Lowell 13

Central Catholic (1-0):     10 14 14 0 — 38

Lowell (0-1):      0  0  6 7 — 13

First Quarter

CC — Mathias Latham 11 run (Nick Mazzie kick), 9:06

CC — Mazzie 31 FG, 3:47

Second Quarter

CC — Mark Ciccarelli 18 pass from Ayden Pereira (Mazzie kick), 8:27

CC — Preston Zinter 31 pass from Pereira (Mazzie kick), 2:56

Third Quarter

CC — Pereira 1 run (Mazzie kick), 8:27

L — Aaron Morris 13 run (kick blocked), 6:51

CC — Pereira 9 run (Mazzie kick), 2:50

Fourth Quarter

L — Morris 61 interception return (Blake Ramos kick), 8:36

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: CENTRAL (27-149) — Mathias Latham 4-16, Ruben Castillo 1-0, Vito Piro 2-7, Markys Bridgewater 6-28, Ayden Pereira 5-23, Michael Brown 3-32, Mathel Achuo 4-34, Jackson Burns 2-9; LOWELL (23-31) — Gavin Kim 1-(-2), Aidan Finn 5-(-26), Blake Ramos 5-8, Aaron Morris 3-14, Jack Frediani 4-14, Kevin Yrrizarry 5-23

PASSING: CENTRAL — Pereira 11-17-0, 212, Castillo 0-1-1,0; LOWELL — Finn 0-3-0, 0

RECEIVING: CENTRAL — Preston Zinter 5-139, Ciccarelli 3-41, Jermaine Wiggins 2-33, Latham 1-(-1)