CENTERBURG — A gutsy effort by the Centerburg Trojans was not enough as the Fighting Irish of Fischer Catholic defeated them Friday, 48-24.

The Trojans, led by running back Matt Patrick (21 carries, 187 yards) who ran for 133 yards in the first half, kept the game close until midway through the third quarter.

It was the over-abundant ground game of the Irish that proved too much for the Trojans. The Irish were led by Peter Tobin (20 carries, 197 yards), Tyler Borland (8 carries, 67 yards) and Patrick Duffee (7 carries, 124 yards).

“There were a lot of warriors on each side and it certainly was a battle,” said Trojans’ coach Brad Burchfield. “Fischer Catholic has a lot of depth. They are a really good football team. They are well coached and they play well.”

It was a scoreless game until the end of the first quarter, when a Cory Hartfield field goal gave the Trojans an early lead.

On the second play of the ensuing drive, Tobin took a Ryan Burkhardt handoff down the right sideline for a 69-yard touchdown run and a 6-3 lead to open the second quarter.

The next time the Irish touched the ball, Tobin struck again from 21 yards out. Both scores were followed by failed two-point conversion attempts, giving Fischer Catholic a 12-3 lead.

The Trojans fought back as Patrick scored on a 45-yard burst up the middle to bring the Trojans to within two at 12-10. Both teams scored again before the half to raise the score to 20 -17. The Trojans capped off the first half when wide receiver Paul Crego made a great catch of Hartfield’s 12-yard pass in the left corner of the end zone.

”I am really proud of the effort that our team gave and it is pretty obvious that we are going to have a pretty good football team here,” said Burchfield. “It went back and forth. It was a pretty good spectator’s game. We’re going to keep improving — we’re going to get better.

“We gave up a lot of big plays and that is where we have to improve,” he said.

The Irish came out fighting in the second half, as Duffee took the first play from scrimmage 55 yards for another touchdown. The kick conversion gave Fischer Catholic a 27-17 advantage to open the second half.

A three yard TD run by Patrick capped a 76-yard, seven-play drive to pull the Trojans to within a field goal, 27-24, with 9:30 left in the third.

Late in the third, with the Irish driving at the Trojan 27, a pair of incomplete passes left the Irish with a fourth-and-10 situation. On the next play, tight end Greg Tobin slipped behind the Trojan secondary and Burkhardt found him with a 27-yard pass, right in front of the Trojans’ goal post, increasing the Irish lead to 35-24 with 2:46 left in the third.

Another TD run by Duffee, this one for 58 yards, opened the fourth quarter and stretched the Irish lead to 42-24, en route to a 48-24 win.