by WILLOUGHBY, Ohio – After the Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin Lions beat up on the Willoughby South Rebels in the last two season openers, something was a little different on Friday (August 30) night at Harry E. Winters Stadium as the Rebels and Lions opened their 2019 seasons.
South avenged two straight losses to the Lions in an electrifying 26-22 win over the Lions that came down to the last seconds.
“The first thing I told the guys after the game was an incredible job defensively tonight,” said Rebels head coach Matt Duffy. “That’s a good, powerful, and physical football team on the other side. After our first drive in the second half, our guys, especially on defense came away with some big stops. Each team made some defensive adjustments at halftime and that changed the course of the game.”
NDCL opened with a 58-yard touchdown pass from Jon Sharp to Johnny Nguyen on the game’s second play from scrimmage. Just over two minutes later, South shot back as Justin Grosel converted a fourth down on a 27-yard touchdown pass to Rico Small. We had a 7-7 tie and looked like we might be having a shootout on the scoreboard.
With the Lions coming up short on their second drive, South had the opportunity to create some distance. The offense created some headaches as they made four penalties but Grosel scored on a 14-yard run with 2:43 left in the first quarter. The extra point was no good, so Willoughby South led 13-7.
Following a punt by NDCL at the end of the first quarter, Willoughby South took it to the ground and Deshod Reese rushed for 68 yards on the drive. The Rebels moved 95 yards in three minutes, capped with a 6-yard TD run by Reese. South led 19-7.
The Lions roared back in the final three minutes of the second quarter. Sharp aired it out to Nguyen for a 55-yard TD strike and Sharp then found Jack Robinson on a 35-yard screen pass. With a two-point conversion, South’s lead had evaporated and NDCL led 22-19 at the half.
South had 314 yards in the first half while NDCL totaled 241 yards.
Grosel and the Rebels got the ball after halftime and worked around two penalties, taking the lead back. After Ira Sampson converted two fourth down plays, Grosel found the promised land on a 25-yard run. The extra point was good, and Willoughby South led 26-22 with 9:19 left in the third quarter.
The final 21 minutes of the game became a defensive battle in the trenches as there was no more scoring but a lot of key plays to keep the game there.
In the closing seconds of the third quarter, NDCL was knocking on the door of the end zone at the one-yard line. Sharp fumbled the ball and Drew Butera came out of the pile with the ball, turning the Lions away at the line.
Small, who caught one touchdown pass, intercepted two passes from Sharp in the final five minutes of the game as NDCL attempted to pull closer to the Rebels.
With 15 seconds left and South in the victory formation, NDCL happened to knock the ball loose on third down and recovered the fumble. With a short field, the Lions had an opportunity to shock South in the closing seconds. NDCL got one last look as time expired but Sharp lost the snap. South recovered and escaped with a Week 1 win.
South, under new Offensive Coordinator Jerry Hazzard, put up 467 yards of total offense. The rushing attack saw 329 yards in the books on 47 attempts. Reese finished with 158 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown. Grosel added 95 rushing yards and two scores and Sampson started the game with 65 yards on the ground. Grosel completed ten-of-18 passes for 138 yards. Small was the top receiver with 73 yards.
NDCL totaled 371 yards for the game, with 118 rushing and 253 in the air. Sharp went 17-of-35 with 253 passing yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. His top target was Nguyen, who caught six passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Robinson had 49 rushing yards while Sharp led the team with 64 rushing yards.
NDCL head coach Andrew Mooney was pleased with his squad despite the result, “We had a lot of guys step up in that second half, I was very proud of them for that. That’s a building block for later down the road for our guys.”
South will travel to Maple Heights next week and NDCL will face West Geauga.
