All Leo home games are played at St. Xavier University, 3700 W. 103rd St.
By Dan McGrath

If you were told the Leo Lions would manage just 54 passing yards, 28 rushing yards and two first downs, you wouldn’t have thought much of their chances Saturday against a patient, efficient and well-drilled Amundsen squad.

The Public League Vikings had it all over Leo in yardage and time of possession. But the Lions played defense as relentlessly as bill collectors all afternoon and used two stunningly big fourth-quarter plays to produce a 13-7 victory, delighting a large and exuberant crowd in their debut as tenants at St. Xavier University’s Deaton Field.

“Good things happen if you stick with it and believe in yourselves,” first-year Coach Theo Hopkins said as his players and fellow coaches mobbed him. “I told the guys that at halftime. We hadn’t done much to that point, but that’s what they did.”

Amundsen (1-1) led 7-0 early in the final period and had positioned itself for a game-sealing score given the Lions’ offensive struggles when quarterback Jasper Carlson tried to run it in on first-and-goal from the 3-yard line. But the ball popped loose as Carlson was popped at the goal line. Sophomore Robert Cunningham III scooped it up and brought it back 99 yards for a touchdown and a tie game after Jahad Smith kicked the PAT.

Visibly energized, the Lions’ defense forced a rare three-and-out and took over at the Vikings’ 48, where Hopkins opted for some trickeration. Quarterback Trent Watson threw a swing pass to Derrick Davis, who was behind him in the right flat. As the Amundsen defense came up to meet him, Davis – a quarterback of some renown and a member of the world-renowned Leo Choir – launched a strike to junior DiCaprio Turks, who was uncovered and untouched as he sprinted to the end zone for the go-ahead score with 4:13 remaining.

Leo’s defense took it from there, ending the Vikings’ final two possessions with takeaways – Jaivon Dale forced and recovered a fumble at the Amundsen 46 and Davis intercepted a Carlson pass from the Leo 33 with 20 seconds remaining.

“This one’s on the defense,” Hopkins said, and he wasn’t kidding – the Lions’ offense had as many interceptions (two) as completions and lost a fumble, while sophomore Ellison Cox was the leading rusher with a hard-earned 30 yards on five carries.

The Vikings, meanwhile, wore out the chain gang with methodical marches up and down the field – one drive consisting of 13 plays consumed more than 10 minutes; another lasted 12 plays and nearly eight minutes.

Reggie Mitchell piled up 69 yards on 17 carries, Carlson completed 10 of 22 passes for 109 yards and Wyatt Perry’s eight catches went for 74 yards.

But Amundsen didn’t score after Carlson’s 1-yard run capped that 13-play marathon on its first possession. In the end, 13 and seven were the numbers that mattered, and that was advantage, Leo.

In fact, with  the freshman team rolling over Rich Township, the JV clipping Amundsen and the fourth season of Leo’s Junior Flag Football program getting under way, it was pretty much a perfect football day on 79th Street. That was the prevailing sentiment among the home fans, who joined the players for a rousing postgame rendition of the Leo Fight Song.

The Lions are 2-0 for the first time since 2014 and have exceeded last season’s victory total in Week 2. Week 3 finds them at St. Pat’s (1-1) on Saturday, September 13 for the beginning of Catholic League intradivision play. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. Tom Zbikowski, an All-America safety at Notre Dame in 2007, is the Shamrocks’ first-year coach.