LOWELL — At times it wasn’t pretty, but Central Catholic did enough to take control of first place in the Merrimack Valley League (Division 1) by defeating Lowell, 42-34, Friday night at Cawley Stadium.

“It was a crazy game,” said Central Catholic coach Chuck Adamopoulous. “I’ve been in the MVC since 1984 and I miss the days of a 14-7 game, these games are insane.”