The Clearwater Central Catholic Marauders used a robust ground attack to defeat the Tampa Catholic Crusaders 49-28 in a Class 3A showdown Friday night in Clearwater.

CCC scored all 7 touchdowns on the ground including three by Ra’Shaad Stewart and two by CJ Cotman. Marauders led only 13-7 at the half but then pulled away for a 42-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.

CCC’s junior running back CJ Cotman had 12 carries for 148 yards including touchdown runs of 63 and 6 yards; he also caught one pass for 37 yards for a total of 185 All-Purpose yards on the night. Junior running back Jervon Newton had 18 rushes for 112 yards including a 17-yard touchdown run. Junior running back Ra’Shaad Stewart had 127 All-Purpose yards including 9 carries for 77 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns (39, 3, 3 yards) and  he had 50 yards on three kickoff returns. John Chiaramonte II had a short touchdown run and a successful two-point conversion run.

Marauders’ senior linebacker Max Kligman had an interception and a tackle-for-loss and sophomore defensive back Amari Burney had a tackle-for-loss and a fumble recovery.

TC’s junior running back Devan Barrett had 23 carries for 148 yards and a touchdown. Junior quarterback Austin Sessums was 14-of-28 for 142 yards which including two touchdown passes, one interception, and five of his passes were dropped. Junior wide receiver Darius Corbett had 94 All-Purpose yards (50 returning and 44 receiving), senior wide receiver Nate Craig-Myer had 72 All-Purpose yards including 5 catches for 53 yards and a receiving touchdown, while junior wide receiver Cory Leppert added a receiving touchdown.

Crusaders’ defense added an early score with a short pick-6 from senior defensive back Tyler Sims in the first quarter to tie the score at 7.

On Friday 10/2, Clearwater Central Catholic (5-0) will host St. Pete Catholic (1-3) and Tampa Catholic (3-1) has a big district match-up at Berkeley Prep (4-1).