Lake Catholic vs. Niles McKinley football: Cougars slay Dragons, 35-21, to advance to regional semifinal
Nov. 3—Football is a team sport no matter how many individual standouts might be wearing the same uniform.
Lake Catholic junior quarterback Frankie Trinetti broke the school's' single-season passing record previously held by Pete Jelovic, Josh Styles was slippery running the ball, as always, and the Cougars' defense came through at the most critical times Nov. 3 in a convincing 35-21 victory over Niles McKinley in a Division IV, Region 13 game at Jerome T. Osborne Stadium in Mentor.
The Cougars will meet Struthers on Nov. 10 in a regional semifinal.
The Cougars led, 21-0, late in the first half on the strength of a 19-yard touchdown pass from Trinetti to Styles, a one-yard run by short-yardage specialist DJ Spears and a 62-yard touchdown pass from Trinetti to Cross Nimmo.
D.J. Sears finishes off a Lake Catholic drive with a one-yard touchdown yard for a 14-0 lead, then the Cougar band and flag corps celebrates. @NHPreps @LCCougarFB pic.twitter.com/4WeZFnjOkN
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) November 4, 2023
Lake, however, was not as dominant as the 21-0 score indicated.
The Dragons moved from deep in their own territory after the Cougars went up 7-0 for a first-and-10 on the Lake Catholic 11. The Cougars' defense stiffened and forced fourth-and-9 at the Lake 9. A field goal attempt was wide right.
A mystery guest speaker told the Cougars it would take defense to beat Niles McKinley in a playoff game Friday night. He was right, says Lake Catholic coach Marty Gibbons. Cougars 35, Dragons 21. @NHPreps @LCCougarFB @lakecatholic pic.twitter.com/7y0YteT0Zd
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) November 4, 2023
The Dragons threatened again after the Spears touchdown made it 14-0, but sophomore defensive back Pete Malchesky intercepted a pass from Niles quarterback Anthony Budak at the Lake Catholic 6-yard line.
It appeared the Cougars would take the 21-0 lead into the locker room at halftime, but on the final play of the second quarter, Budak arched a pass from the Lake 24 into the end zone. The Cougars covered the Dragons' receivers well, but Niles receiver Nate Coots came down with the ball to slice the Lake Catholic lead to two touchdowns.
Confident Lake Catholic quarterback Frankie Trinetti reflects on breaking the school's season passing record of 2,813 yards set by Pete Jelovic in 1992. Trenetti passed for 293 yards and four touchdowns Friday night and now has 3,039 yards with Cougars marching on in playoffs. pic.twitter.com/w2v2s8OuBl
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) November 4, 2023
Niles had momentum and would get the kickoff to start the third quarter.
The Cougars got the three-and-out they needed, and then Trinetti hooked up with Patrick Radigan on a 58-yard catch-and-run for a 28-7 Lake Catholic advantage. The three-and-out was huge.\
"We knew we had to come out and finish the game off," Cougars coach Marty Gibbons said. "They're from Niles, Ohio. We knew they were going to be mentally tough, We had to bring our best in the second half, so the kids did a great job coming out in the second half."
The Cougars expanded their lead to 35-7 in the fourth quarter on a 29-yard pass from Trinetti to Nimmo.
Trinetti finished the night with 293 passing yards to give him 3,039 yards for a season that is still going for the Cougars. The previous record of 2,813 yards was set by Jelovic in 1992 when Joe Jurevicius was his primary receiver.
"It feels awesome," Trinetti said about breaking the record. "Pete Jelovic had the record. He was here in 1992. I saw his record and thought, 'Wow. That's a lot of passing yards. I don't know if I can get that.' Then this year I came in confident and thought, 'OK, let's go' and I beat it."
The Cougars held Dragons senior running back Antuan Gardner to 228 yards on 33 carries. "Held" is the right word because last week Gardner carried 29 times for 471 yards and six touchdowns to lead McKinley past Edgewood, 65-28.
"We had a guest talk about how it would take our defense to win the game," Gibbons said. "I felt that was definitely the case. Our defense needed to win that game. Special teams made some plays, and offensively we have to continue to do what we do."
Styles led the Cougars with 102 rushing yards.
THE SCORE
Lake Catholic 35, Niles McKinley 21
