Early & often for Provy

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NEW LENOX -- After starting the season with a 2-4 record, the Providence Catholic High School football team faced a three-week stretch in which it must win each game in order to qualify for the playoffs.

After Friday night's 48-7 rout of Gordon Tech, the Celtics have completed a third of their mission.

Providence (3-4) started its offensive machine early and didn't let off the gas.

Junior running back Tim Hanrahan racked up 168 yards rushing in the first quarter alone as the Celtics built a 34-0 lead. He had touchdown runs of 68 and 25 yards. The 68-yarder was sprung by a big block from fullback Luke Conrad, who added TD runs of 1 and 7 yards in the quarter as well. The defense got into the act when Pete Houlihan returned an interception 30 yards for a first-quarter TD. He added another pick in the second quarter.

In the second quarter, quarterback Mike Hoffmeister hit Josh Panfil with a 6-yard touchdown to make it 41-0 and iniate the running clock, as agreed to by both coaches.

Providence amassed 191 rushing yards in the first quarter alone. Gordon Tech only mustered 19 rushing yards and 12 through the air in the first half.

Pat Wright, who is normally the Celtics' punter, added a 2-yard run in the second half for the Celtics. Gordon Tech scored its only TD late in the game on a drive helped out by a facemask penalty.

"The positives were that we set the tone early and didn't lose focus on our goals," Providence coach Mark Coglianese said. "Our defense did a nice job setting up our offense early in the game, so it was a team effort tonight.

"I thought Luke Conrad played naother outstanding game. He plays in the tradition of a lot of great Providence fullbacks by being the lead blocker. He did a great job tonight by setting up Hanrahan."

Providence finished with 283 total yards, 262 on the ground. The Celtics held Gordon Tech to just 83 total yards, 54 of which came on the ground.