Hawkins' Dramatic Fourth-Quarter TD Catch Wins Game for Lake Catholic

If you can only make one catch during a football game, it’s probably best to make it the game-winner.

Lake Catholic senior receiver Zach Hawkins stiff-armed a defender and spun his way through traffic down the sidelines and into the end zone with 1:41 left in the game and gave the undefeated Cougars a 21-14 victory over Ravenna on Saturday night at Jerome T. Osborne Sr. Stadium.

Senior defensive back Aaron Phillips intercepted Ravenna quarterback Brandon Holt’s pass at the Lake Catholic 27-yard line and sprinted down to the Ravens’ 34 with 2:19 left. Two plays later, Cougars junior quarterback Mark Baniewicz found Hawkins for the 32-yard score.

Hawkins did actually have one other catch in the game, but it was an interception of Holt’s final pass to seal the victory with 34 seconds left in the game. And as for the game-winner, Hawkins wasn’t even thinking about scoring, just merely picking up a few yards to keep the drive alive.

“I just caught the ball. I saw them coming at me. I just made a move,” Hawkins said.

Without Phillips’s heroics, though, Hawkins’ wouldn’t have been the game’s star. The Ravens were driving for a go-ahead touchdown with score tied, 14-14, but Phillips sensed the moment and turned the game’s momentum in the Cougars’ direction.

“I had a great feeling taking that pick. I had faith that our offense was going to punch it in and take the lead. And if our defense had to go back out there, we’d stop them,” Phillips said.

Lake Catholic improves to 2-0 after defeating Ravenna (1-1) in a non-league contest. The victory comes on the heels of knocking off perennial power Strongsville last week.

The Cougars next host Youngstown Ursuline who has won the last three Division V titles but is currently 0-2. The Saturday game starts at 7 p.m.

With the team losing so many starters from last season, Cougars head coach Mike Bell is pleased with the start to the 2011 campaign. To his mind, the team’s standards don’t change.

“I expect our young men to work hard and to play hard. I expect our coaches to do a great job, and I expect us to win. Obviously, it doesn’t always work out that way, but I’m thrilled to death that it has to this point,” Bell said.

The Cougars largely controlled the game running the football and holding down Ravenna’s potent rushing attack. Baniewicz led the Cougars with 86 yards on 17 attempts, while Lou Vettel had 47 yards on 11 carries.

Ravenna star running back D.J. Jones was held scoreless but had a solid game with 142 yards on 27 tries. Nonetheless, it was quite a fall from the 291 yards and four touchdowns he scored against Tallmadge in a 47-44 victory last week.

The Cougars got on the board first as John Stepec pounded it in from the 1-yard line with 30 seconds remaining the first quarter to cap a 14-play drive that began at their own 13.

Ravenna responded as Holt found Jermaine Justice for a 36-yard TD pass down the left sideline to finish off a six-play, 65-yard drive at 10:17 of the second quarter.

But just before the half ended, the Cougars relentlessly pounded the Ravens’ defense until Evan Gormley popped through for a 3-yard run with 1:55 remaining to end the first-half’s scoring.

After a stalled third quarter, Ravenna running back Kyle Harris opened the fourth quarter with a 45-yard scamper down to the Cougar’s 44. After a Jones’ 20-yarder set the Ravens up at the Cougars’ 8, Holt found Matt Thomas with an 11-yard strike to even the game at 14 apiece with 7:28 remaining.

After a three-and-out gave the Ravens the ball back with 5:50 left, Ravenna drove from their 18 to the Lake Catholic 44, but Phillips’ interception and Hawkins’ TD catch saved the day.

Ravenna          0  7   0 7  14

Lake Catholic  7  7   0 7  21

1st Quarter

Lake Catholic - Stepec 1 run (Gormley kick)

2nd Quarter

Ravenna - Justice 36 pass from Holt (Van Hoose kick)

Lake Catholic - Gormley 3 run (Gormley kick)

4th Quarter

Ravenna - Thomas 11 pass from Holt (Van Hoose kick)

Lake Catholic - Hawkins 32 pass from Baniewicz (Gormley kick)