Rahim Mitchell Sets Rushing Records In Crusaders Victory
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STEUBENVILLE -- Special does not begin to describe the night Rahim Mitchell had for Catholic Central on Saturday night.
With the Crusaders entering the night on the playoff bubble, the junior playmaker came through with a performance for the ages. He accounted for nearly 500 yards of offense, eight touchdowns and came up with several key plays on defense to lead Central to a 66-54 victory over visiting Conotton Valley.
“Rahim Mitchell is pretty darn special,” Catholic Central head coach Greg Bahen said. “If he’s not the best player in the Valley, I don’t know who is and I mean that. It’s both ways, offense, defense, he’s just special.
“Big players step up in big games, and that’s what he did. He stepped up in a big game. He’s just a special kid, he’s growing up and it’s fun to watch. I told him we were going to feed him tonight and he just had a special night. I’m happy for him and happy for our kids.”
Mitchell finished the night with 417 yards on 34 carries and seven rushing touchdowns, while hauling in two passes for another 70 yards and a score to finish with 487 yards of total offense.
Both his 417 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground are new school records.
He had scoring runs that covered 22, 23, 20, 18, 9, 45 and 47 yards, the last two of which came in the fourth quarter as the Crusaders, now 6-3 and winners of five-straight, surged ahead. On most of those runs, he broke tackles in the backfield and found ways to escape and elude.
His receiving score went 56 yards. His other catch with one second left in the opening half set up a Central score right before the break.
On defense, he intercepted two passes, recovered a fumble and broke up four more passes, including one on a key fourth down in the fourth quarter. The Crusaders defense got six stops/turnovers on the night and Mitchell directly factored into four of them.
The game featured 14 lead changes, a combined 120 points and 1,098 yards of combined total offense. It took over three hours complete.
“I’ve never been a part of a game like that,” Bahen said. “I’m kind of at a loss for words, really. Our kids played their butts off and it was just a total team effort. We found a way to win and I’m just really happy for the kids.
“There was a lot on the line tonight and our kids stuck together, battled hard and found a way.”
Outside of Mitchell’s big night, quarterback Matty Jones threw for three touchdowns and 222 yards and Central’s offense as a whole compiled 676 total yards. He found Michael Fabbro in the corner of the end zone with no time left in the first half to send Central to the locker rooms up 39-36. Fabbro (four catches for 110 yards) also had a 43-yard touchdown catch on which he broke multiple tackles. The catch at the end of the half was overtop double coverage while coming down in bounds.
PLAYOFF WATCH
The game was a big one in the Division VII, Region 27 playoff race. Conotton Valley entered the week in position to get a home game in the playoffs, and with the loss, goes into its Week 10 matchup with Vienna Mathews in the bubble spot dropping to No. 12, according to Joe Eitel’s unofficial rankings.
On the flip side, Central entered week on the outside looking in, got some help on Friday night to enter Saturday’s game in 12th, and with the win, Eitel had Central jumping up to No. 8 in the region, giving them a chance to not just make the playoffs, but contend for a home game.
UP NEXT
The Crusaders will look to extend their winning streak to six and wrap up a playoff spot when they host Wellsville (1-8) next Saturday night at Harding Stadium on senior night.