October 21, 2011
Benedictine 42, Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin 16
Geneva – Four touchdowns in a span of four minutes in the first half keyed Benedictine’s 42-16 victory over North Coast League rival Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin at the Spire Institute.
After NDCL had taken a 7-0 lead with 3:57 left in the first quarter, Benedictine scored just about one minute later on a Dan Piascik-to-Mike Roberts 66-yard pass play to tie the game on freshman Toby Leahy’s extra point conversion. That Bengals score came with 2:58 left in the first.
The Bengals then received a big break when the snap from center skipped past the Lions quarterback and was recovered by Richard Allen on the Latin 16. It took only one play from scrimmage – a Bryan Lacey 16-yard run - and Leahy’s kick to give the Bengals a 14-7 lead. Lacey’s score came only 13 seconds after the Bengals first TD.
An NDCL punt put the ball on the Bengals 14. After an incomplete pass, Lacey broke through for an 82-yard run to put the ball on the Latin four. Marshall Howell ran it over from there to give the Bengals a 21-7 lead with 31 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Bengals defense clamped down and forced the Lions into a punting situation. The ball was snapped over the punter’s head. In attempt to make a play, he threw the ball downfield and was intercepted by the Bengals Jovan Dawson, who returned it 48 yards for a touchdown. That came with 11:01 left in the first half and gave the Bengals a 28-7 lead.
That completed a nearly four-minute stretch when the Bengals broke open the game.
Midway through the second, the Bengals faced a third-and-17 at their own 48. Dan Piascik and Bryan Lacey executed a perfect screen pass that went for a touchdown. That increased the lead to 35-7.
NDCL got on the scoreboard again on a six-yard pass with 3:02 left in the second to make the score 35-14.
With under a minute remaining in the first half, the Bengals were pinned back on their own one. On the first play, the Bengals back was tackled in the end zone for a safety that made it 35-16.
On the opening drive of the second half, the Bengals methodically moved downfield with Kelvin Blake’s one-yard run giving Benedictine another score. It finished a 15-play, 76-yard scoring drive that ended all the scoring in the game at 42-16.
NOTES: The most impressive statistic of the night was the -81 rushing yards by the NDCL. All five Lion ball carriers finished with negative yardage.
A lot of credit should go to the stalwarts on the defensive line … Richard Allen, William Cloud, Joe Nawalaniec and David Porter. In addition to stopping the run, they combined for a total of four sacks of the NDCL quarterback.
Senior back Bryan Lacey had 26 carries for 170 yards (one TD) and caught one pass for 52 yards (TD) for 222 yards in total offense.
Due to unplayable conditions at NDCL’s home field, the game was moved to the Spire Institute.
Benedictine’s victory increases its all-time series lead with NDCL to 4-1.
The win gives the Bengals a 7-2 record and should keep them well-positioned for a Division III, Region 9 state playoff spot.
The longest road trip of the year is on Friday when the Bengals travel to play Columbus DeSales.
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Wally Mieskoski ’71
Benedictine Football Historian
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