Thunderbirds hope to settle old score against Irish

By John Bassetti

bassetti@vindy.com

LIMA

There’s no football history between Ursuline and Lima Central Catholic yet, but there sure is basketball history.

It was March 1994 when the Mitch Cerny-coached Irish defeated Lima Central Catholic in the Division III boys state championship basketball game.

“We missed three one-and-one [opportunities] in the last minute, then Ursuline tipped in a rebound at the buzzer to win,” Central Catholic athletic director Ron Williams recalled.

He added: “We’re not over that one yet.”

Central Catholic has since won its first state title, but it took until March 2010 when the Thunderbirds defeated Orrville. Central Catholic’s Bob Seggerson then retired after 33 years as coach.

The football team will now have its chance against Ursuline (13-0) as the Thunderbirds venture into the state semifinals for the first time since the playoffs expanded in 1999.

However, Central Catholic has been consistently knocking on the door of a regional crown since Jerry Cooper arrived to coach for the 2005 season.

Since then, Central Catholic has qualified for the postseason five of the last six years.

“We’ve had a little bit of football success,” Cooper said humbly. “We’ve not gotten as deep in those playoffs as we want, but this is the first time we’ve made it to the final four.”

In 2005, Central Catholic lost to Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, 39-35, in a regional championship, who then lost to Patrick Henry in the state title game.

In 2006, Central Catholic lost to St. Henry, which went on to win the Div. V title.

A year later, the Thunderbirds were knocked out by Patrick Henry, but, eventually, Maria Stein Marion Local won the title by defeating Ursuline.

Last year, Central Catholic lost to Defiance Tinora in the regional semifinals.

“We’ve lost to some real good teams and, obviously, Ursuline is one of those great teams you have to play when you get to this level,” said Cooper, now in his 25th year as a head coach. He has a 204-71 career record.

Since 1973 — when the Thunderbirds lost to Cleveland Benedicine, 23-0, in a state semifinal in Class AA — and 1989 were Central Catholic’s only other playoff seasons, the school must have sought out Cooper to put the Thunderbirds back in contention.

He was the head coach at Columbus Grove for five years, which included a Div. VI state title in 2003.

During a seven-year (1992-1999) stint as Lima Bath’s coach, Cooper faced Mentor Lake Catholic in a Div. III state semifinal.

“We had a real good team at Bath in 1992, but we lost to Mentor Lake Catholic in the state semifinals,” Cooper said of a 42-13 defeat.

“They kicked our tail. It wasn’t even close,” Cooper said of a Lake Catholic team that went on to win the state championship with Joe Jurevicius, who eventually played for the Cleveland Browns.

Central Catholic is balanced offensively with Tyler O’Connor in command.

“He’s been offered by a couple Division I’s [scholarships] already even though he’s just a junior,” Cooper said of the 6-foot-2, 190-pound quarterback and defensive back. “He’s helped us create that balance.”

O’Connor also doubles as the kicker and punter for the Thunderbirds.

Central Catholic has rushed for about 3,162 yards and passed for 2,330.

“That’s been the strength of our team,” Cooper said of the mix.

Defensively, the Thunderbirds are just as solid.

“We’ve kept people in front of us and haven’t given up a whole lot of points or a whole bunch of big plays,” the coach said of his team which allows 10.8 points per game.

Ursuline has given up 126 points this year. That averages out to about 9.7 points per game. The most points the Irish have given up this year is 22 in the opening round of the playoffs against South Range.

Ursuline scored 55 points in the game.

“Now that will be a real challenge with as good as those guys from Ursuline are,” Cooper said.

This season’s roster has about seven returning starters from the 2009 team and a half-dozen players from Central Catholic’s state championship basketball team.

“The success of that basketball program has carried over and given our kids some confidence and helped supply some energy for football, as well,” said Cooper, who noted that O’Connor, Jon Steiger, Bubba Krieg and Taylor Royster played significant minutes on that basketball team.

“It’s nice to have those athletes,” said Cooper, a native of Mount Gilead who graduated from Otterbein before getting his Masters from Ashland University, near where Saturday’s game will be played.

Asked if he was related to former Ohio State coach John Cooper, Jerry Cooper said: “I had a brother named John Cooper and he was a better football coach than that guy who used to be the head coach at Ohio State.”