Lake Catholic Football Team Falls to St. Vincent-St. Mary

St. Vincent-St. Mary head football coach Dan Boarman looked at the 22 interceptions ’s defense piled up this season and liked his team’s chances through the air.

With that knowledge, most teams would keep the ball on the ground, but not Boarman. Not when he’s got Kevin Besser directing his offense.

“Our kid is an accurate thrower. He only had five interceptions up until today,” Boarman said. “I liked our numbers better than theirs.”

SVSM senior quarterback Kevin Besser lived up to his coach’s expectations and carved up the Cougars’ secondary with a pair of touchdown passes to Jordan Hargrove as the sixth-seeded Irish (10-2) upset second-seeded Lake Catholic (10-2), 31-14, in the Division III, Region 9 semifinals Friday night.

Besser finished with 267 yards on 15-for-24 passing yards and two interceptions. Hargrove had 143 of those yards on five catches at Bearcat Stadium in Bedford.

“Hargrove’s a talent receiver. No doubt. Whenever I see 1-on-1 with him, I know I can take my shot,” Besser said. “I get a smile on my face every time I see it.”

After Cougars junior quarterback Mark Baniewicz threw for a season-high five touchdown passes in the team’s opening-round victory over Benedictine, he went 14-for-32 for 169 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. His 50-yard TD pass to Aaron Phillips came with nine seconds left.

The Irish capitalized on four Cougars turnovers including Dante Booker’s 25-yard interception return touchdown for a 31-7 margin in the fourth quarter that put an exclamation point on an already resounding defeat for Lake Catholic.

SVSM held a 21-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter before Lake Catholic scored its first points. The whole affair left Lake Catholic head football coach Mike Bell scratching his head.

“Guys are trying to make plays and unfortunately turn the ball over. We did some things that we haven’t done all year that way. It’s hard to explain. Obviously, it’s very disappointing. It makes it tough to win a game like this turning the ball over,” Bell said.

Coach Boarman’s passing gambit paid dividends early.

In the first quarter, Besser aired out a pass to Hargrove who made a leaping grab 25 yards from the end zone and then raced the remaining distance for a 63-yard score to put SVSM on top, 7-0, at 5:29.

It appeared Lake Catholic had found some momentum in the second quarter as Ryan Fyffe picked off Besser and set up the Cougars at the Irish 47.

But the Irish buckled down and forced the Cougars to punt in three plays. Lake Catholic then called for a fake punt as Evan Gormley attempted to run for the first down, but the Irish stopped him well short at the 40.

On the next play, with a double reverse and a backward pitch, Besser found Franshon Bickley behind the defense for a 38-yard gain. Four plays later, Besser hit Hargrove for a 7-yard TD pass to put the Irish up, 14-0, at 9:59 of the second quarter.

Lake Catholic’s first two second-half drives penetrated deep into SVSM territory, but they were stopped on downs the first time and a Miller fumble after a 23-yard catch ended the second one at the Irish 23.

On the ensuing possession, Besser found Hargrove for a 43-yard gainer, and Matt Matuska blasted up the middle for a 31-yard TD run on the next play for a 21-0 lead at 2:25 of the third quarter.

Lake Catholic responded immediately with a John Stepec’s 1-yard TD run that capped an 11-play drive. But in a topsy-turvy sequence of plays, the Cougars regained the ball only to have Zach Hawkins fumble it at their own 24 and then regain it on the next play as a Phillips’ interception returned the ball to the SVSM 30.

After a personal foul penalty pushed back Lake Catholic, misfortune befell the Cougars again as Tyler Bischof picked off Baniewicz and returned it to the SVSM 49. From there, the Irish drove for a 25-yard field goal and an insurmountable 24-7 lead.

Phillips, a senior, feels the team simply got outplayed.

“We’re a great them; they’re a great team. We know anytime we can go out on the field, we can win a ball game. It just happened that St. Vincent-St. Mary scored more points than us,” Phillips said.

St. Vincent-St. Mary  7  7  7  10  31

Lake Catholic             0  0  0  14  14

First Quarter

St. Vincent-St. Mary – Hargrove 63 pass from Besser (Manfut kick)

Second Quarter

St. Vincent-St. Mary – Hargrove 7 pass from Besser (Manfut kick)

Third Quarter

St. Vincent-St. Mary – Matuska 31 run (Manfut kick)

Fourth Quarter

Lake Catholic – Stepec 1 run (Korb kick)

St. Vincent-St. Mary – Manfut 25 field goal

St. Vincent-St. Mary – Booker 35 INT return (Manfut kick)

Lake Catholic – Phillips 50 pass from Baniewicz (Korb kick)