Lake Catholic (6-3, 3-1) used four touchdowns by senior running back Nate Rieple to defeat the Notre Dame Cathedral Latin Lions (7-2,2-2), on a cold and rainy night, by a final of 31-18 on Oct 19 at Lions Stadium.
With NDCL hanging on to possibly making the playoffs, the loss to Lake Catholic makes the Week 10 against Akron-Hoban, one of the best teams in Ohio, a daunting must-win.
Against the Cougars, the Lions senior quarterback Nick Gattozzi accounted for two of the three NDCL scores.
“This is a great group of seniors” said coach Andrew Mooney.
The Lions have 12 seniors on the football team this year.
“This senior class loves to hang out with each other and even though this was tough the life lessons of the bond of young men and the understanding that tomorrow will come will make them better for it.”
He continued: “This game is tough, but the season isn’t over, we have one more and these guys get to come out one more time and show what they are all about.”
NDCL is led this season by senior quarterback Gattozzi. Gattozzi is a dual threat quarterback who eclipsed 1,000 yards passing and 500 yards rushing prior to the week nine contest with the Cougars.
Gattozzi is one of the many leaders on NDCL and helped the Lions get the early lead. Gattozzi marched his team down the field for an opening touchdown capped by a two-yard TD run by Jack Robinson. The Lions had a 6-0 lead after the opening quarter.
Lake Catholic answered with a touchdown and a field goal before the break and took the 10-6 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, the Cougars scored on a 78- yard touchdown run by Rieple to take a 17-6 lead.
Gattozzi and the Lions answered with a touchdown on a 24-yard pass from Gattozzi to Robinson. The score, after three quarters, was 17-12 Cougars.
Lake Catholic scored twice more, both scores were Rieple rushing touchdowns. That gave Lake Catholic a commanding 31-12 lead. Gattozzi scored another touchdown on an eight-yard run to cap the scoring. The final score was 31-18 Cougars.
Each team will have one game remaining, to try to extend their season. Lake Catholic will be looking to end the season.
“We’re not worried about anything else but getting to 1-0,” said Lake Catholic Head Coach Scott O’Donnell. “There’s a shot, that’s all we want, if the Cougars get into the playoffs look out.”
The Cougars will wrap up the season with Padua, while NDCL will take on Archbishop Hoban.
Senior night is a special occasion and the seniors for both teams shined on the field, and both coaches expressed how each of their respective teams have improved throughout the year.
“It’s fun coaching these guys, they work hard every day and I’m having a blast,” said O’Donnell. “I’ve been super proud of this team throughout the entire year, I thought we hit the ground running, and guys have really stepped up, especially the seniors,” said coach Mooney from NDCL.
The Cougars and Lions will meet again next season and a new batch of seniors will want to make their mark in this historic rivalry. I, for one, can’t wait.
The game was recorded by GTV and can be seen by visiting www.geaugatv.org.