Lake Catholic Football Team Finishes Regular Season on High Note

Good thing quarterback Mark Baniewicz is finding his passing stroke at the right time as there’s no better time than at the end of games and just when the playoffs are beginning.

Baniewicz found Richie Miller for the game-winning 11-yard touchdown pass with 33 seconds left as Lake Catholic defeated host Avon, the No. 1 ranked team in Division II football, 25-21, in a non-conference matchup on Friday night.

Baniewicz, who had two TD passes in the game, rallied the Cougars from a 14-0 deficit to lift the team’s record to 9-1 on the season just before the playoffs begin, while Avon suffered its first loss of the season to fall to 9-1.

"It was a very exciting win. They are a very good football team. They were ranked No. 1 in D2 for a reason. They were actually, early on in the game, outplaying us. We were able to get that turned around with great effort from our young men in the second half,” Lake Catholic head football coach Mike Bell said.

Walsh Jesuit defeated Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin, 35-14, Friday night to win the North Coast League Blue Division title with a 5-0 mark, while Lake Catholic took second at 4-1. Walsh Jesuit defeated Lake Catholic, 14-12, on Sept. 24 for the Cougars only loss of the season.

Baniewicz has five touchdown passes in his last two games, but had only two before last week’s three-touchdown performance against Archbishop Hoban. Baniewicz threw for 139 yards on 14-of-23 passing with two interceptions. Avon quarterback Justin O'Rourke went 13-for-22 for 190 yards and an interception.

Cougars running back Evan Gormley had 155 yards rushing on 23 carries and a touchdown. Eagles back Ross Douglas had 131 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown.

The Cougars are ranked second in the playoff computer rankings for Division III Region 9 this week behind only Chagrin Falls. Avon, not surprisingly, was ranked first in the Division II, Region 6 rankings. Needless to say, both teams are heading for the playoffs.

Lake Catholic, ranked fifth in the Division III Associated Press poll, will know where it stands in the playoffs late Saturday night or early Sunday. As for the game, the Cougars certainly knew where they stood in the second quarter – down.

O’Rourke found Mike Eckhardt for TD passes of 26 and 30 yards respectively in the second quarter to put the Eagles up, 14-0.

After a Joe Korb 36-yard field goal got the Cougars on the board late in the first half, Baniewicz found Aaron Phillips for a 21-yard TD pass and ran in a two-point conversion to draw Lake Catholic to 14-11 at 4:25 of the third quarter.

Gormley’s 13-yard TD run got the Cougars out in front for the first time at 11:23 of the fourth quarter, 18-14, but Douglas’ 28-yard TD run regained the lead for the Eagles, 21-18, with 8:08 remaining in the game.

But Baniewicz’s pass to Miller struck the decisive blow.

“Facing the adversity they did, being down early and to come back and figure things out was tremendous to see. You want to see those kinds of things heading into postseason play,” Bell said.

Lake Catholic  0  3  8  14  25

Avon                 0 14 0   7  21

Second Quarter

Avon – Eckhardt 26 pass from O'Rourke (Young kick)

Avon – Eckhardt 30 pass from O'Rourke (Young kick)

Lake Catholic – Korb 36 field goal

Third Quarter

Lake Catholic – Phillips 21 pass from Baniewicz (Baniewicz
run)

Fourth Quarter

Lake Catholic – Gormley 13 run (Korb kick)

Avon – Douglas 28 run (Young kick)

Lake Catholic – Miller 11 pass from Baniewicz (Korb kick)