September 2, 2011
Benedictine 21, Akron Hoban 14
Bedford – The first North Coast League game for the Bengals turned out to be a very memorable victory.
It took a six-play, 79-yard scoring drive to get the winning touchdown with just 91 seconds left in the game.
Taking over at its own 21, Benedictine moved downfield in a hurry. On the first play from scrimmage, junior quarterback Dan Piascik hit Marshall Howell for a 46-yard gain to the Hoban 33.
Howell caught another pass at the Hoban 23. Two plays later, Howell reached the end zone on a 19-yard run to give the Bengals the lead with 1:31 left in the game.
Freshman Toby Leahy’s kick put the score at 21-14.
Benedictine scored first on its second drive of the game when the Bengals recovered a fumble at the Hoban 19. On the first play from scrimmage, senior back Bryan Lacey’s run gave the Bengals a 7-0 lead after Leahy’s kick.
It remained 7-0 at halftime.
In the third, Hoban’s junior quarterback Dominick Orsini scored on a one-yard run, but the extra point kick failed when the ball hit the cross bar of the goal post.
After leading most the game, the Bengals fell behind with 11:17 left in the game when Hoban scored on a 10-yard pass play and two-point conversion to take a 14-7 lead.
Following a fumble recovery by Mike Roberts on the Hoban 45, the Bengals needed 10 plays to reach the end zone. With 5:31 left, Richard Allen toughed his way to pay dirt from the four. Leahy kicked his second extra point to tie the game at 14-14.
Exactly four minutes later, the Bengals got their winning score.
Howell accounted for 150 yards in total offense as he caught seven passes for 111 yards and rushed three times for 39 yards. As a team, the Bengals gained 358 yards while holding Hoban to 229 yards.
Piascik completed 14 of 24 passes for 182 yards.
After playing an independent schedule for nearly 40 years, Benedictine earned its first league victory.
Benedictine accepted membership into the North Coast League in the spring of 2010 to begin play in the fall of 2011.
The last league game played by the Bengals was on November 19, 1971 when they defeated Holy Name 9-7 to win the Cleveland City Championship. The Bengals were the East Senate champs playing against the West Senate champs.
This victory also marked the eighth straight time Benedictine has defeated Akron Hoban dating back to 1992. The all-time series now stands at 11-4-0.
Wally Mieskoski ’71
Benedictine Football Historian
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