Toledo Central Catholic loaded with talent - as usual

Toledo Central Catholic (10-1)

* Players To Watch – TE/DL Jamaal Tarrent (6-2, 260, Sr.), OL/DT Chris Boles (6-3, 300, Jr.), LT/DT Kyle Cameron (6-2, 285, Jr.), QB Dave Walender (5-11, 175, Sr.), WR/CB Nate Hobbs (6-1, 190, Sr.), DB Zach Messer (5-8, 175, Sr.), K Kyle Burkhardt (6-0, 165, Sr.)

Outlook – The Irish rolled through the regular season undefeated and were the No. 1 seed in Region 6 last year, but fell in the first round of the playoffs at home to Powell Olentangy Liberty (which moved up to D-I this year). This season, TCC is loaded with talent as usual.

Tarrent is ranked as one of the top 150 seniors in the state by Ohio High and has a scholarship offer from Akron. Last season, he had 36 tackles, 15 tackles-for-loss and nine sacks.

“His athleticism for his size really jumps out,” head coach Greg Dempsey said. “Jamaal is an excellent athlete and he does a great job using that to his advantage. He does a good job of rushing the passer and is explosive for his size. He is mostly a defensive end for us, but we’ll play him a little bit at tight end.”

Boles is ranked as one of the top 30 juniors in the state by Ohio High’s Mark Porter and he is one of two main starters back on the offensive line.

“Chris is a pretty talented kid,” Dempsey said. “Buffalo called me about him.”

Dempsey is also high on Cameron who is ranked as one of the top 50 juniors in the state by Ohio High.

“Kyle was offered by the Tennessee staff before they were fired,” Dempsey said. “(Ohio State offensive coordinator/offensive line coach) Jim Bollman calls frequently about him. Illinois said all he has to do is come to camp and he has an offer. He’s mobile and mean and really finishes his blocks. He started all season for us as a sophomore at left tackle and also played some defensive tackle. He’s a tad shorter version of Christian Pace from Avon Lake.”

Walender returns as the starting quarterback and he threw for 1,147 yards (53 percent completion) with 12 touchdowns and five interceptions last year. Three of his interceptions came in the final game of the season when Central Catholic was upset in the first round of the playoffs.

“He’s not a dual-threat; he’s more of a pocket guy,” Dempsey said. “Dave is mobile, but he’s not a running threat. We are in the shotgun 30-40 percent of the time and he does a good job of running our offense and throwing the ball.”

Hobbs is a talented athlete that will play all over the field. He is even Walender’s backup at quarterback.

“We don’t want anyone to be comfortable,” Dempsey said. “Nate will take some snaps at quarterback even if he plays wide receiver. The Wildcat offense has hit us.”

Last season, Hobbs had 29 receptions for 546 yards and five touchdowns. He added 12 carries for 62 yards and another touchdown. The bad news for the Irish was that Hobbs missed the final three games of the season due to injury (including the playoff game).

Messer returns to lead the secondary and he had 56 tackles from his strong safety spot last season.

Central Catholic also has a solid kicker in Burkhardt (5-of-9 on field goals with a long of 48; 30-for-30 on extra points).

 “We have a nice group of kids coming back,” Dempsey said. “We need our tailback situation to sort itself out and we have about five candidates, but no one with varsity experience for a season, or even a game. We have to throw the ball better this year and we have our quarterback and receivers back. We need to mix in the pass to help our running backs develop. We have a solid foundation on the offensive line, but we can’t afford any injuries.”

Dempsey also offered his thoughts on all the teams that have moved in and out of Region 6 this year.

“In some ways, you’re saying, ‘Thank God these teams left,’ but then some really tough teams moved in,” he said. “Avon Lake is loaded to this year from what I understand. But if people want to talk about playoff expectations, we have to worry about making it first. Our league schedule and non-league schedule is tough.”