by MENTOR, Ohio – Friday’s season-opening matchup at Jerome T. Osborne Stadium saw an unique matchup between the D4 Lake Catholic Cougars and enter Paul Heyman voice “The reigning, defending, undisputed Division V State Champion Kirtland Hornets!”
(Sidenote, only those WWE and Brock Lesnar fans might get that reference but it’s OK)
The Hornets used the normal steady rushing attack to take down the Cougars 31-15 in the Battle of Route 306.
The game was delayed one hour due to inclement weather. After the first three combined drives came up empty, the Hornets stung first with a field goal at the end of the first quarter. Kirtland stopped Lake Catholic’s Joe Malchesky on a fourth and two, leading to a ten play, 57 yard scoring drive. Mario Rodin converted a 26 yard field goal with 19 seconds left as Kirtland led 3-0 after one frame.
Kirtland made the most of their second quarter drives, cashing in on two touchdowns on the ground. Mason Sullivan pounced in from one yard out four minutes into the quarter. Nick Schwartz added a two yard score as Kirtland led 17-0 over the Cougars at halftime.
A 14 play, 80-yard Hornet drive opened the third quarter with a steady diet of rushes, 12 of them to be exact. Liam Powers capped the near 6:30 long drive with a 16-yard touchdown run. The Hornets held the ball for 10:37 of the third quarter as they pushed the lead to 24-0 heading to the fourth quarter.
Kirtland used eight plays over the final four minutes of the third quarter before going seven plays in the fourth quarter, totaling a 15 play, 75 yard scoring drive. Powers added his second touchdown of the night, a six-yard scamper with 8:06 left. The running clock was initiated at the JTO as the Hornets were up 31-0.
Lake Catholic answered back four minutes later with a score, halting the running clock. Malchesky completed a 43-yard touchdown pass to Luke Rako as the Cougars cut the lead to 31-7. In the closing seconds (18 ticks left), Ryan Joy capped the scoring with a one yard touchdown run. Malchesky completed the two point conversion to Ryan Globokar, capping the final score at 31-15.
The Kirtland offense showed few signs of wear in the season opener as Tiger LaVerde’s team churned out 64 plays for 355 total yards over 30:20 minutes of possession. The rushing attack totaled 276 yards on 56 rushes with 79 passing yards on just four completions.
Powers was four of eight for 79 yards passing along with 92 yards rushing on 11 rushes and two rushing touchdowns. He was named Player of the Game.
Mason Sullivan led the rushing attack with 105 yards on 22 tries with one touchdown. Anthony DeMarco rushed 12 times for 38 yards and caught one pass for 32 yards.
The Cougars finished with 186 total yards on 42 plays with Malchesky accounting for a majority of the yards. The senior quarterback completed nine of 20 passes for 98 yards and one touchdown. On the ground, he ran 18 times for 80 yards.
Rako, who caught the fourth quarter touchdown, had three catches for 55 yards.
Lake Catholic will play at Euclid against Villa Angela-St. Joseph on Saturday (Sept. 5) while Kirtland plays at Shaker Heights on Saturday as well.
Final box score: https://stats.digitalscout.com/football/boys/game/12657746
Player of the Game: Kirtland’s Liam Powers, QB: 171 total yards (92 rushing/79 passing), 2 rushing touchdowns
