NATICK – A battle-tested Central Catholic had just enough to squeak out a victory on the road Friday night.

Junior Caden Smith scored from three yards out in overtime to lift No. 5 Central Catholic over No. 4 Natick 20-17 in the Div. 1 quarterfinals.

“Our kids hung in there and we battled in the second half,” said Raiders coach John Sexton. “Certainly, defensively we battled.”

Natick (7-3) got the ball first in overtime, and senior captain Emmanuel Lizaardo came up with a huge tackle for loss to send the Redhawks back four yards. Two incomplete passes later, sophomore Brayden Lewis drilled a 31-yard field goal after he missed a 39-yard attempt at the end of regulation.

From there, Central Catholic (7-3) got a huge seven-yard run from senior captain Caden Chase to set up the eventual game-winner for Smith.

“I said to coach Sexton to give me the ball in overtime,” Smith said about the game-winning rushing score. “He trusted me and I trust him. We got the job done.”

In the first half, Central Catholic came out ready to play as they took the ball 74 yards on 10 plays with senior captain Chase punching it in from yards out to make it 7-0 with 5:18 left in the first.

After a turnover on downs for Natick, the Raiders once again found paydirt as they marched 74 yards on 10 plays again as this time Caden Smith kept it for a three-yard rushing score to push the lead to 14-0 with 10:51 left in the second.

Catholic Central’s Anthony Garcia, left, breaks up the end zone pass to Natick’s Brandon during an overtime thriller Friday. Central won, 20-17. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

“I’ve kind of been on them all about starting fast,” Sexton said about getting out to the 14-0 lead. “The first six weeks of the season, we really were kind of sound asleep when the bell went off. The last couple of weeks we have played better. … Tonight was better and we kind of went to sleep in the middle of the game, but credit that to Natick. They did some things that we hadn’t seen and that I hadn’t anticipated coming in.”

Natick answered back just four plays later as junior Matt Caissie hit junior Brandon Leshinski for a 48-yard TD grab to cut the deficit in half, 14-7.

The Redhawks then forced a punt on defense with 3:15 to go in the first half and ate up all but 29 seconds of the game clock to score on a three-yard rush for senior captain James Mortarelli to make it a 14-14 contest at the half.

In the second half, Natick turned the ball over on downs on their opening possession and neither team could get anything going offensively until the Redhawks completed a couple deep passes to set up the field goal attempt that was no good at the end of regulation.

In their first state semifinal since 2022, the Raiders will face off against top-seeded St. John’s Prep and, after losing to them 47-21 earlier in the season, they are ready for a rematch.

“The biggest thing is the job’s not finished,” said Smith about facing St. John’s Prep next week. “We’re zero and zero right now. That’s the mindset we are going in with.”