Lake Catholic Suffers First Defeat of the Season Against Walsh Jesuit

As the old cliché goes, football is a game of inches, and Walsh Jesuit beat by a foot.

Warriors kicker Ross Martin made his two extra points, but his Cougars counterpart Evan Gormley had an extra-point attempt blocked and a two-point conversion pass failed as Walsh Jesuit knocked Lake Catholic from the roll of unbeaten teams with a 14-12 win at Jerome T. Osborne Stadium on Saturday night.

Lake Catholic, ranked second in the Associated Press’ Division III state poll, fell to 4-1, while Walsh Jesuit improved to 3-1 in both teams’ North Coast League Blue Division debuts. The Warriors’ only loss came against St. Vincent-St. Mary, 48-46, on Sept. 2.

Despite the blocked kick, Gormley had his best rushing night of the season with 114 yards on 12 carries but no touchdowns. Gormley, who has five rushing touchdowns on the season, hasn’t scored one in the last two games.

Warriors quarterback Nick Wargo countered with 17-of-27 passing for 185 yards and one touchdown. Wargo has now passed for eight touchdowns and run in two scores on the season.

All of the game’s scoring occurred in the first half as Doug Lewis went in from 18 yards out to give the Warriors the early lead, 7-0, at 8:58 of the first quarter.

The Cougars responded nearly three minutes later as quarterback Mark Baniewicz ran into the end zone from the 1 at 6:05 of the first quarter, but trailed, 7-6, after the Warriors blocked Gormley’s low extra-point attempt.

Lake Catholic went ahead early in the second quarter as John Stepec, who scored the game-winning TD with 19 seconds left to defeat Cardinal Mooney, 27-22, last week, punched it in from 3 yards at 11:18. The Cougars elected to go for a two-point conversion. After a penalty backed the Cougars up, Baniewicz was sacked, but the Cougars led, 12-7.

Wargo’s 6-yard TD pass to Lewis registered the decisive score at 3:20 of the second quarter.

Lake Catholic has won its games through hard-nosed defense and a grinding running game but has been a low-scoring team this season averaging 18 points per game.

Lake Catholic travels to face Benedictine on Friday night. The game begins at 7 p.m.

Walsh Jesuit    7 7 0 0 14

Lake Catholic   6 6 0 0 12

First quarter

Walsh Jesuit - Lewis 18 run (Martin kick)

Lake Catholic - Baniewicz 1 run (kick failed)

Second quarter

Lake Catholic - Stepec 3 run (pass failed)

Walsh Jesuit -  Lewis 6 pass from Wargo (Martin kick)