The Greensburg Central Catholic football team is making a name for itself on the national scene.

After two summer camps the Class AA Centurions have gone against bigger schools from around the country and they have done more than hold their own.

At Louisville, the Centurions finished second in the 7-on-7 camp and against 44 teams at a Notre Dame 7-on-7 camp this past weekend, they battled back through the losers' bracket to finish third.

Up next on the Greensburg Central Catholic summer tour are trips to Cincinnati the last week of July and a camp near Baltimore where Gateway will also be attending. Coach William "Muzzy" Colosimo has been taking his teams to different camps for about 10 years now.

While no starting positions are won in the non-contact 7-on-7 skill position games, players do get in shape. The camps also get the summer offseason program jump started.

No player is going to earn a varsity spot, but the camps do give the coaches a chance to see what players excel in different situations.

"There is no hitting here so all we can do is see who can catch the football and who can throw the football. Defensively, with the linebackers, you can see what kids are better against the run or the pass," Colosimo said.

The Centurions are used to going against bigger schools in WPIAL action since they are amongst the smaller Class AA schools. But at Notre Dame they were up against Sacred Heart out of Illinois, a school that graduates about 700 boys.

"I was really impressed with the whole situation," Colosimo said. "We had our backs against the wall [after losing the first game] but we played up to the level of competition against some of the better teams. They had juniors and seniors and we just had some sophomores out there."

Colosimo offers the opportunity to go to the camps to all the skill players who will be sophomores, juniors or seniors in the fall. He took 26 players to Notre Dame, including quarterback Trent Hurley who is being looked at by the Irish. Hurley, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound junior, had a good camp at quarterback despite not starting last year.

He was a backup to Adam Palcic, a senior in the fall who has been moved to wide receiver. Hurley met his team in South Bend after arriving early to attend a three-day quarterback camp.

Evan Marshall and David Miller impressed during the Notre Dame Camp and both will be juniors this season.

"I think what these camps do is help the players get in shape. You have so many minutes to play, so you have to run on and off the field and throwing the ball and playing defense. It really gets them in shape especially in that heat," Colosimo said. "It was pretty hot out there. In Louisville it was 110 in the shade."

Last season Greensburg Central Catholic opened the season with six consecutive wins and finished the regular season 7-2 and second in the Interstate Conference behind WPIAL and PIAA champion Jeannette. The Centurions were ousted in the first round of the playoffs by Beaver Falls, 35-14, which advanced to Heinz Field to play Jeannette.

"Considering what we lost from the year before, I think seven wins is good," Colosimo said. "But being a coach and a competitor, you are never happy with seven wins.

So far this summer, Greensburg Central Catholic has gone against teams from Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia and the Class AAAAA state champions from Bowie, Texas.

"There were a lot of teams from other areas that were in there and they were very skilled teams. You want to see how your kids are going to perform against better athletes," Colosimo said.

He expects this year's section to be even tougher than last year's that featured Terrelle Pryor at Jeannette.

"I am expecting a war this summer," Colosimo said. "I want the kids to be ready to hit and get after it and have that never-say-die attitude."