Sunday, November 15, 2009
The Bulldogs made a game of it in the third quarter but couldn’t hold off the Tigers down the stretch.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
AURORA — Trailing undefeated Chagrin Falls 22-7 at halftime, Lakeview senior tailback Te Elias said his teammates knew time was running out on their season.
“We knew we had to come out with a lot more hunger, a lot more fire than we did in the first half,” Elias said.
The Bulldogs needed just four plays plus a penalty to reduce the gap to a one-possession game when Elias broke free for a 26-yard touchdown run.
But that was as close as the fifth-seeded Bulldogs (8-4) would get as the top-seeded Tigers (12-0) scored the final two touchdowns for a 36-14 victory in Saturday’s Division IV Region 13 semifinal at Aurora High.
“We just battled the whole game. That’s one thing about us, we never gave up, we never stopped playing,” Elias said. “We knew we had to keep fighting.”
The Bulldogs had their hands full trying to contain Tigers quarterback Chris Trinetti, who completed 22 of 31 passes for 343 yards.
“He’s very talented,” Lakeview coach Tom Pavlansky said. ‘They’ve got a good squad. Our kids played their hearts out. They made a couple more plays than we did.”
Trailing 22-14, the Bulldogs rolled the dice with an unsuccessful onside kick.
Then early in the fourth quarter with the deficit back to 15, Desmond Vaughan’s run on a fake punt came up a yard short.
Triggering the Bulldogs’ second-half comeback was quarterback Anthony Franco, whose runs pushed the Tigers onto their heels.
“Anthony is a real good one,” Pavlansky said. “He’s a competitive, tough, hard-nosed kid.
“He took some shots tonight. He probably got hit harder tonight than he did the whole year but he kept on stepping up to the plate and firing it.”
The Tigers needed a little more than 14 minutes to jump out to a 22-0 lead.
On the Tigers’ first possession, the Bulldogs forced a fourth-and-7 at the Lakeview 38 but Trinetti scrambled for a 26-yard gain.
Three plays later, Marc Geraci caught his first touchdown pass — a 3-yard play. Trinetti scored on a conversion run for an 8-0 lead.
Bulldogs defensive back Toma Leveto intercepted Trinetti on the Tigers’ second drive. But one play later, the Tigers had the ball back when Nate Lelonis intercepted Franco.
Pat Nadeau’s 36-yard reception extended the lead to 15 points. Geraci’s second touchdown covered 18 yards early in the second quarter.
Just before halftime, David Soles recovered a Tiger fumble to set up Franco’s 4-yard touchdown run.
“Getting a score at the end of the first half was big,” Pavlansky said. “Our kids executed, God bless them, they executed.”
Geraci caught 12 passes for 177 yards. Nadeau had six receptions for 122 yards.
“We knew we had to keep our composure, not let the pressure get to us,” Trinetti said of seeing a 22-point advantage dissolve to eight.
Asked if Trinetti played the best game of his career, Geraci said, “It’s definitely up there. Trinetti is a tremendous quarterback — he’s fast, he can run. I’m so thankful that he’s throwing me the ball.”
Pavlansky said, “I don’t want to see what their third-down conversion rate was. They had a bunch of third-and-7s, and they converted most of them, unfortunately.”
The Bulldogs rushed for 153 yards and passed for 122. Elias gained 72 yards on 16 carries.
“We knew we had to play our best to move on,” Pavlansky said. “We came up a little short.”
williams@vindy.com