A major story was told on the very first possession of the game Sept. 16 at NDCL's Lion Stadium.
Game photos click here.
A major story was told on the very first possession of the game Sept. 16 at NDCL’s Lion Stadium.
The much larger Taft Senators stuffed the NDCL Lions offense in a display of strength and size that became more evident as the game continued.
Those advantages didn’t show the heart the Lions bring to every game they play. But early mistakes proved costly as NDCL dropped a thrilling 25-22 nonconference decision to their visitors from Cincinnati.
On that first drive for the Lions, negative yardage forced a punt situation. Gianni Spetic sent a cannon shot down the left side of the field, and as the free ball bounced, the return man for Taft (4-1) was not paying attention. Spetic’s effort took a goofy bounce, hit the receiver, and Caleb Cirino pounced on the ball at the Taft 31 yard line, giving the Lions a new set of downs in good position.
Fourteen yards backward later, another punt was forthcoming, and that basically finished NDCL’s offense in the first half; Taft asserted itself in the second quarter to take a 19-0 lead into the locker room.
The Lions did not appreciate being dominated as they were, and had a superb second-half effort to begin the third period, led by Matt Urda and Josh Grambo. Among a number of big Lion efforts, a fumble on the third period kickoff was recovered at the Senators 5 yard line, and Burke Buell took it in for a score on the next play to put some life into the home side of the field.
After Tayshawn Banks took the next kickoff back 53 yards, into NDCL territory, a fumble on the next play again came to rest in NDCL hands.
The Lion offense again was stuffed in its tracks, so Spetic punted again, and Banks took it back 31 yards, setting up a 42 yard drive that was capped by a two-yard run by Charles Hawkins Jr. to provide a 25-7 Senator lead.
Game over? Not a chance.
NDCL finally got some offensive push, but was stopped on downs at the Taft 32. On the second play thereafter, Luke Peroni saw another loose ball caused by monster hits by a teammate. He scooped up the ball at the 30 and raced to the right front corner of the end zone to cut the lead 25-15, after the two point conversion succeeded.
A Griffin Moskal 21-yard punt return closed out the third period, and on the first play of the fourth period, Ryan Lipowski found Hayden Dixon all alone on the right sideline for a 40-yard scoring pass to cut the lead to 25-22.
Yet another fumble fell into NDCL hands, this time with Mac Rottinghaus in Senator territory, but a penalty moved the ball back to the 32 and the drive stalled at the 17.
Spetic, one of the area’s premier placekickers who had earlier missed a long try very narrowly, again had a chance, but the long arms of the interior line of Taft blocked his field goal attempt with 9:45 left to play.
NDCL got one more chance with the ball, but the Lions turned the ball over on downs with 1:41 remaining in a last gasp effort.
“They are a very talented team,” NDCL Head Coach Andrew Mooney said of Taft. “That said, I think we played a very good defensive effort in the first half, but mistakes hurt us a lot. Those two big plays hurt a lot in the second period, including some missed tackles, but they are so fast and have so many weapons, they are just plain tough.”
Mooney was referring to a 79-yard pass play for a score, and an 86-yard run for another, sandwiched around the first Hawkins score, which gave Taft a 19-0 lead at the half.
Early in the third period, Urda and Peroni made life miserable for Taft offensive players, with constant pressure that led to numerous big hits in the backfield. The Lions slowly got back into contention, but fell short in the end.
Taft had eight sacks in the game, though, and while NDCL had its chances, coming all the way back from that second-period mess proved to be too much for the 1-4 Lions.
Total yardage said a lot about how the game went. Taft gained 320 yards, compared to only 75 for NDCL. Lipowski hit on six of 17 tries for 63 yards, and Burke Buell fought his way to 63 yards on the ground on 15 painful tries, but the sacks of Lipowski provided negative yardage that ultimately was unsurmountable.
