The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Lions dominate final tuneup game
The Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin football team passed its final preseason test impressively on Aug. 16 with a 14-0 win over visiting North in a half of game-situation play at Lion Stadium.
Zach Urda scored on a short touchdown run, and quarterback Nick Gattozzi threw a touchdown pass. Couple that with a staunch defensive effort that produced a pair of takeaways, and the Lions looked very much ready for a Week 1 showdown with South on Aug. 24.
“Excited doesn’t even describe it,” said Gattozzi, licking his chops for the season opener.
“Yeah, I can’t wait for it,” chimed in Dom Roberts.
NDCL fumbled away the ball on its first series. But the defense held and gave the ball back to Gattozzi & Co.
This time the NDCL offense didn’t falter, with Urda bulling in for a touchdown.
The next time down the field. Gattozzi found Anthony Rabil coming across the field for a 20-yard touchdown pass.
A third scoring attempt was thwarted with North bottled up the Lions on fourth-and-goal from the 1.
“On the offensive side of the ball, we’re feeling pretty comfortable,” Gattozzi said. “Our offense is moving. It’s what we’ve been doing in practice. The mistake we made are easy fixes. We’ll be good going into Week 1.”
NDCL has success dominating the line of scrimmage and running the ball with Urda and Kyle Medves. Gattozzi, when he couldn’t find an open receiver, ran for big yardage, also.
“Oh yeah, they looked like they were in midseason form,” North coach Shawn Dodd said of the Lions. “I don’t know if they’re that good or we got that much work to do, but they dominated us.”
Helping the Lion’s cause was an early fumble recovery by Dominic Dutton and a pick by Roberts.
Roberts admitted he was hoping for a pick-six, but settled for the takeaway.
“At first it was play-action, so I stepped up for the run,” he said. “I saw the quarterback’s eyes, and he was eyeing the tight end the whole way. The ball was right there.”
Dodd lamented his team’s inability to capitalize on an early turnover. He said running back Brett Payne ran hard, but said his team was beaten in the trenches.
North opens at home against Westlake on Aug. 24.
“I hoped the early turnover, that was a big hit by sophomore James Walker, would give us a spark,” Dodd said. “But apparently we need more work.”
Mooney warned his team about being complacent.
“We’ve got to find some depth,” Mooney said. “We’re not going to get it done with 11 guys on each side of the ball. We have to have some guys step up. I’m happy where we’re at, but we’re not done yet.