Lake County Sentinel
Lake Catholic drubbed by NDCL 35-7
BY KEN KRIZNER
STAFF
(CHARDON, OH) - Notre-Dame-Cathedral Latin came into this high school football season hoping to check off a number of goals. Winning the conference title was near the top of list, as was hosting a playoff game and making a deep run in the Division III playoffs.
But perhaps topping those goals was its objective of defeating its longtime rival – and longtime nemesis – Lake Catholic.
At Lozick Field at Lions Stadium Friday night, NDCL made three of those goals a reality. What remains to be seen is whether the Lions can make that deep playoff run.
Backed by an offense led by senior quarterback Brady Capel and a physically dominating defense, NDCL defeated the Cougars, 35-7. The win gave the Lions the outright North Coast Conference championship, the program’s first title since 2012. They also get a first-round bye and home playoff game on Nov. 6.
Just as important, NDCL (9-1, 5-0 NCC) experienced its first win over Lake Catholic since 2021 – two years before the Lions’ current group of seniors enrolled in the school.
“We were not going to be stopped,” said first-year NDCL Head Coach Sam Vander Ven. “This team has been hellbent on beating Lake Catholic. The one missing piece on their resume was a win over Lake Catholic.”
Lake Catholic, on the other hand, likely lost its chance to host a playoff game next week. The Cougars (6-4, 3-2 NCC) were physically dominated on both sides of the ball.
“They dominated the line of scrimmage,” said Lake Catholic Head Coach Marty Gibbons. “When you do that in high school football, you usually are going to win the game.”
The Cougars also lost starting quarterback Max Pisano early in the fourth quarter after he absorbed a terrific hit, one of many the junior endured throughout the game. Gibbons said he hopes Pisano will be able to play next week.
Defensively, the Lions dominated so thoroughly that Lake Catholic was limited to three offensive first downs all night (plus one on an NDCL penalty) and punted on seven of its 11 possessions. Conversely, NDCL’s only punts of the night were on its first and last possessions.
After the teams traded punts early in the first quarter, the Lions went to work on offense. Starting in Lake Catholic territory at the 35 yard line, Capel completed a 10-yard pass to senior wide receiver Blake Dumermuth. Four successive runs followed, the first three by senior Robby Lipowski totaling 23 yards. Capel finished the drive with a 2-yard dive over left tackle for the first touchdown of the night.
Lake Catholic appeared to get a break on its next possession when NDCL was called for a running into the kicker penalty, giving the Cougars a new set of downs near midfield. But the Lions defense was up to the task, preventing Lake Catholic from getting any sort of momentum going.
On Lake Catholic’s next punt, senior Carmen Cirino set the Lions up at the Cougars’ 39 yard line with a 41-yard return. But Capel threw the first of his two interceptions on the night when Lake Catholic sophomore Ricky Spraggins stepped in front of Lipowski near the end zone.
Lake Catholic, again, could not do anything, and the Lions effectively put the game out of reach during the last six minutes of the first half. On one drive, the Lions overcame holding and personal foul penalties, going 75 yards in 14 plays. Capel and Lipowski did much of the work on the ground during the drive, with Lipowski going in from 7 yards out for a 14-0 lead.
On the next Lions’ drive, it was Capel’s arm that delivered yardage and the touchdown. Getting the ball back with less than two minutes remaining in the half, Capel connected with Cirino on completions of 23, nine and four yards – three of eight pass completions on the drive. The last pass, a 10-yard touchdown to senior Austin Otero, came with three seconds left in the half and gave NDCL a 21-point lead at halftime.
The Cougars came out in the third quarter aiming to get back in the game. They forced turnovers on NDCL’s first two possessions of the half, an interception and fumble recovery.
Following the second turnover, Lake Catholic put together its only sustained drive of the night. Pisano and senior tight end Brady Moran hooked up for completions of 35 and 15 yards to get the Cougars to the NDCL 18 yard line. Pisano and Moran connected one more time for 13 yards to get Lake Catholic on the board and trim the NDCL lead to 21-7.
However, that was as close as the Cougars could get in the second half.
On the ensuing drive, senior running back Joey Velotta, another weapon in the NDCL offensive arsenal, picked up 28 yards on the ground and Capel mixed in passes to different receivers, getting the ball down to the Lake Catholic one yard line. On third down, the Lions lined up as they were going to run the ball up the middle. But Capel pulled the ball back and found senior tight end Wesley Jacobsen for the touchdown.
Both Vander Ven and Capel marvel at the weapons NDCL has on offense. Vander Ven says whenever he calls a play, he has so many option from which to choose. “We can get the ball to so many different people,” he noted.
Capel credits the offensive line for protecting him in the pocket and opening holes on run plays. “Our line had an amazing game,” he said. “They’ve stepped up all year.”
The Lions completed the scoring with about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter when Capel kept the ball and ran 42 yards for the touchdown, igniting both players and fans into a celebratory mood at the realization that some of the NDCL goals were about to be accomplished.
Lake Catholic, which had won three out of its last four prior to Week 10, will await its first-round opponent. Gibbons said his team has been up and down all season.
“We’ve been a team of two different stories,” he said. “We’ve played some good games and we’ve played some games where we struggled. So, it’s back to the drawing board somewhat. But we know who we are at this point and it is up to us to get the best out of our players next week.”
Meanwhile, the Lions get the weekend off and a chance to heal up and review game film of their possible opponent. Vander Ven said his team needs to continue to get better at practice and not look ahead.
“We have enough talent in this group to go pretty far in December,” he stressed.
But before he looks ahead, Capel wanted to savor a long-sought victory.
“We talked about it in the locker room, pregame, that this was a game that we are going to remember for a long time,” he said. “We just needed to go out and be ourselves. We were confident we were going to win this game, and it showed in the scoreboard.”
POSTED 10/24/2026 01:00
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Here’s tonight’s image. NDCL quarterback Brady Capel meets up with a Lake Catholic defender during the Lions 35-7 win.
Photos by Ken Krizner
