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By Dan McGrath
Their first victory of this unusual spring football season seemed a more realistic goal for the Leo Lions when Fenwick quarterback Kaden Cobb missed the game with a shoulder injury—the smooth, strong-armed junior has several Division I offers on file already and might be the top prospect in the Catholic League.
But when a team has 60-plus players in uniform, as the Friars did, there’s a chance it has a replacement at the ready. Or, in Fenwick’s case, two replacements.
Sophomore EJ Hosty and senior Nick Polston split the QB duties and did a passable impersonation of Cobb, with Hosty throwing for 186 yards and two touchdowns and Polston running for 57 yards and two more scores as the Friars (2-2) celebrated Senior Night with a 43-0 romp at Triton College on Friday, April 16.
Hosty averaged 23 yards on his eight completions, in large part because his large, fast receivers created mismatches against Leo’s young, small defensive backs. Basketball standout Max Reese’s three catches produced 90 yards and a 26-yard touchdown. Fellow hoopster Eian Pugh had three catches for 72 yards and a 15-yard score.
On the ground, Polston formed a potent one-two punch with Danny Kent, who carried 13 times for 82 yards and a four-yard touchdown.
Fenwick’s defense, meanwhile, had more help than it probably needed in pitching a shutout. Three Leo turnovers were damaging enough, but 134 penalty yards kept the Lions bottled up in their own territory all night and frequently gave the Friars a short field.
It was telling that Leo’s two biggest plays of the night—Raiyon Davidson’s 34-yard kickoff return and Chris Lindo’s 50-yard punt runback—were negated by penalties.
The Lions’ frosh-soph kept the unseasonably cool night from being a total loss, improving to 3-2 with a 26-22 victory over the Friars in a well-played preliminary game.
Leo will try to avert a winless season in a Senior Night season finale against Marian Catholic at St. Rita’s Cronin Field on Friday, April 23. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.