Marian Catholic 35, Leo 14, at St. Xavier
After the Leo Lions got off to a 2-0 start to the football season, it was only natural to take a peek at the schedule in search of three more wins that would facilitate an IHSA playoff berth for the first time since 2013.
Friday’s Marian Catholic game was one of those three potential W’s, for obvious reasons. The Spartans were 0-3 coming in. It was Leo’s Homecoming. There’s a feel-good vibe throughout the school owing to the world-renowned Leo Choir’s electrifying presence on a national stage. A raucous pep rally sent the Lions off to St. Xavier for the game, and a large and enthusiastic crowd awaited them there.
It surely looked to be Leo’s night when Jaivon Dale brought the opening kickoff back 87 yards for a touchdown and an 8-0 lead mere seconds into the game.
But the rest of the night belonged to the visitors – emphatically. Running back Kyle Scott slithered his way to 185 yards on 27 carries with three touchdowns while quarterback Owen Askren accumulated 190 yards through the air, passing for one score and running for another.
So dominant were the Spartans in their 35-14 victory that they did not punt once. They shrugged off 75 yards in penalties and had two touchdowns called back or it might have been worse.
Leo’s first-year Coach Theo Hopkins was uncharacteristically gloomy after the Lions dropped their CCL/ESCC Red Division opener and fell to 2-2 overall.
“You can’t win if you don’t compete, and we did not,:” Hopkins said. “We didn’t block, we didn’t tackle and we didn’t compete. Very disappointing.”
Leo’s glaring inability to run the ball is not only undermining its season, it’s placing an unrealistic burden on sophomore quarterback Trent Watson. Running for his life against a pass rush that encountered little resistance, Watson somehow completed 12 of 21 passes for 167 yards and a 26-yard touchdown to Antonio Clark. The Spartans dropped him three times for 37 yards in losses, all but negating the 56 yards he picked up on seven scrambles. Derrick Davis, on a brief hiatus from the Choir, caught five passes for 96 yards.
Hopkins promised to put the Lions through a tough, focused week of practice in preparation for next Saturday’s CCL-ESCC crossover game with St. Laurence at St. Xavier (4:30 pm kickoff). The Vikings are 3-1 after Friday’s 21-14 loss to Carmel of Mundellein.
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