Lake County Sentinel
Cougars blow out Bruins 46-17 on homecoming weekend
BY JOEY SCHNEIDER
STAFF
(MENTOR, OH) - On a perfect night in Mentor's Jerome T. Osborne Stadium, the undefeated, 6-0, Lake Catholic Cougars took on the 4-2 Padua Franciscan Bruins on Lake Catholic's Homecoming night.
It was a slow first quarter as Padua received the ball first and took almost eight minutes off the clock, but the Cougars defense stood tall and stopped the Bruins on a fourth down.
The first points of the game didn't come until Lake Catholic's senior kicker Harley Forkins made a 16-yard field goal with 11:01 left in the second quarter.
The Cougars would follow that up with quarterback Frankie Trinetti connecting with wide receiver Patrick Radigan for a 41-yard touchdown. After an interception by senior wide out and defensive back Ace Peterlin, Lake Catholic was on the move again. Trinetti rolled to his left and threw a high deep ball into the end zone that star wide out Cross Nimmo high pointed and caught over a Padua defender for a 29-yard score, increasing the Cougars lead to 17-0 with 6:20 left in the first half.
The Bruins would not be held down for long as Padua junior kicker Caleb Zolkowski put the Bruins on the board with a 25-yard field goal. Padua would then close the gap even further as Bruin quarterback Nick Barker found running back Roderick Love who rumbled into the end zone for a touchdown with just six seconds left in the second quarter. Lake Catholic went into the half leading 17-10.
Lake Catholic came out of the locker room for the second half hot and they came out as a team with a purpose. The defense was lock down for most of the half and the offense was shot out of a cannon as Frankie Trinetti connected with Ace Peterlin on a 32-yard touchdown just a minute and forty into the second half. Senior Jimmy Gibbons would get in on the action on a 36-yard rushing touchdown, followed by another Trinetti to Pererlin passing score, this one for 12-yards, and before you knew it Lake Catholic was running away with the game.
Padua showed a lot of resilience, never giving up, and scoring on a three yard rush by sophomore Justyn Gillispie, but it just wasn't enough.
Lake Catholic would put the stamp on the game with 6:41 left as junior Michael Valentino pushed through the line to score. A botched extra point turned into a two point conversion on the point after attempt.
The Cougars defense held the rest of the way and Lake Catholic would take the win in dominant fashion with a final score of 46-17.
After the game, Cougars Head Coach Marty Gibbons was asked about what was said to the team at halftime. "We didn't say anything, I think we grunted." he said while laughing. "A few of the coaches and I went in there and we made sure the kids understood the magnitude of us playing a complete game and we were not satisfied with how we played in the second quarter." "We need to get better at that if we are going to do the things we want to do, so we are really close to where we need to be, but we have a lot of work to go."
Lake Catholic had their players step up big. Frankie Trinetti was 18/25 for 324 yards and four touchdowns. Patrick Radigan had four catches for 100 yards and one touchdown. Ace Peterlin caught four passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns. Cross Nimmo was right behind with four receptions for 78 yards and one touchdown, and running back Jimmy Gibbons had 17 rushes for 94 yards and a score along with two receptions for 45 yards as well.
Next week Lake Catholic will be at home again looking to stay unbeaten as they take on the 1-6 Elyria Catholic Panthers. Padua will look to bounce back as they are at home as well hosting the 2-4 Holy Name Green Wave.
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POSTED 10/05/2024 01:14
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Photo by Joey Schneider
