by Mentor, Ohio – The visiting Dover Crimson Tornadoes triumphed, 16-13, over Lake Catholic in a rainy night at Jerome T. Osborne Stadium.
After a scoreless first quarter, Lake Catholic broke through in the second when senior tailback Nick Brandt took a carry to the end zone from two yards out. This gave the Cougars the early 7-0 lead with 8:14 left in the second.
Not too long after, it began to rain, and rain hard. The conditions were monsoon-like throughout the rest of the quarter. Despite the pouring rain, there was no lightning to be spotted, which would have halted play.
Dover drove down the field on their last possession before the half, and Lucas Lane booted a 45-yard field goal, cutting the Crimson Tornado deficit to 7-3.
The rain was steady throughout the second half, and eventually stopped near the end.
Later in the third quarter, Dover took the lead thanks to a huge fourth-down conversion. Senior quarterback Benjamin Hamm found senior tight end David Denney for a 16 yard touchdown reception. The point-after was no good, and Dover led 9-7 with 3:26 to play in the third.
In the fourth quarter, the Crimson Tornadoes drove down to the Lake Catholic 30, looking to add to their lead. But senior defensive back Damen Kelly stopped Mitchell Martin on a fourth-and-short, giving the Cougars the ball on downs.
From there, Lake Catholic sophomore quarterback Frankie Trinetti moved the Cougars down the field, completing passes to Aidan Fitzgerald and Nick Brandt. Senior Carter Cantrell, who also had a few huge plays on defense, punched it in from three yards out to give Lake Catholic the lead, 13-9.
The ensuing two-point try failed, and Dover got the ball with 1:50 to go.
Benjamin Hamm moved the Dover offense down the field, and picked a huge gain despite a fumbled snap, eluding a pair of Lake Catholic defenders in the process.
They also got a huge penalty on one fourth down, and a completion on a screen pass on another to keep their drive alive.
After a late hit penalty on the Lake Catholic defense, Dover had the ball at the Lake Catholic 3. Hamm rolled to his right and found David Denney for the go-ahead touchdown to put the Tornadoes up 16-13 with three seconds to play.
Lake Catholic had one last try with multiple laterals but couldn’t get to the end zone, and Dover hung on to win.
Dover (1-0) hosts Akron East next Friday night.
Lake Catholic (0-1) travels to Cardinal Mooney next Saturday night.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Senior quarterback Benjamin Hamm (Dover)
Dover had to drive 80 yards in 1:50. Hamm marched the Tornadoes down the field for the game winning score. Both of his touchdown tosses were to fellow classmate David Denney.
Check out extended footage here:
