Unbeaten Detroit Catholic Central can lock up a share of the Catholic League Central on Friday at Toledo St. Francis

NOVI, Mich. — Detroit Catholic Central is one win from clinching at least a share of the Catholic High School League’s Central Division, and the Shamrocks get that chance Friday at Toledo St. Francis de Sales, a team that has won once all season.

Kickoff is 7 p.m. Friday, with the game listed at the University of Toledo on Catholic Central’s schedule. The Oakland Press reported that St. Francis is 1-6 overall and 0-4 in the division.

Catholic Central (7-0) is the division’s only unbeaten team after a 27-20 comeback win at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s last Friday, in a game between teams ranked No. 1 in Division 1 and Division 2. The Shamrocks trailed by 14 points going into the fourth quarter and scored the game’s last 19 points, according to The Oakland Press.

Gideon Gash scored twice in the fourth quarter, the second on a 50-yard run down the left sideline with 4:45 left, but a blocked extra point left Catholic Central down 20-19, the newspaper reported. Sophomore Dylan Miller-Ramsay then recovered a fumble at the Shamrocks’ 43 with 2:32 to play, and Ryan Jaafar finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown on a direct snap and the two-point conversion that put Catholic Central ahead with 10 seconds left.

“We knew we were going to be in a fist fight,” coach Justin Cessante told The Oakland Press. Peyton Sofran started at quarterback after Duke Banta was injured in the previous week’s 31-12 win over Toledo Central Catholic, the newspaper reported.

The win kept alive a regular-season unbeaten run that dates to September 2023, according to The Oakland Press. Catholic Central has handed both St. Mary’s and Toledo Central Catholic their only division losses. The Mitten Daily covered the Toledo Central Catholic game last week.

Catholic Central’s schedule shows a 7:30 p.m. game against Brother Rice at Ford Field on Saturday, Oct. 24, after the St. Francis game. St. Mary’s fell to 5-2 and 4-1 in the division, and coach Jermain Gonzales told the newspaper the Eaglets turn next to Toledo Central Catholic.

Sources:
The Oakland Press, “Ryan Jaafar’s go-ahead touchdown in final seconds lifts Detroit Catholic Central over Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 27-20,” Oct. 10, 2026, https://www.theoaklandpress.com/2026/10/10/ryan-jaafars-go-ahead-touchdown-in-final-seconds-lifts-detroit-catholic-central-over-orchard-lake-st-marys-27-20/
Detroit Catholic Central High School, 2026-27 football schedule, https://dccshamrocks.net/sports/football/schedule/
Photo: Greenstrat, “GlassBowl2.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, released into the public domain by the author, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GlassBowl2.jpg

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Tags: Detroit · Sports · Detroit Catholic Central · Toledo St. Francis · High School Football