By Dan McGrath

The sky opened as Leo was wrapping up Senior Day festivities during halftime of Saturday’s CCL/ESCC crossover game with Notre Dame of Niles at St. Xavier.

The brief but soaking downpour was an appropriate metaphor for a day on which Leo’s faint IHSA playoff hopes were washed away by the Dons’ 41-18 victory. A fifth loss in six games left the Lions with a 3-5 record for the season. A win at Marmion in Friday’s finale would get them to 4-5, their highest win total since 2014, but still one victory shy of the playoff-qualifying standard of five.

To their credit, the Lions never stopped competing, and Theo Hopkins coached with as much vigor as was possible under frustrating  circumstances. The Lions were done in by their own mistakes as much as by anything Notre Dame (3-5) did in stopping a five-game losing streak.

Some samples: 

• A bizarre deflection of Leo’s second punt of the day wound up in the hands of ND’s Ryan Cisneroz, who brought it back 24 yards to Leo’s 2-yard line. Dominic Helser scored on the next play, and Notre Dame led 14-0 before the first period ended. 

• Late in the second quarter the Lions forced a three-and-out punt, only to muff the return and allow the Dons to take over at Leo’s 21. Two plays later, after a total breakdown in pass coverage, Quinn Conway found Peter Panagiotoupolos for a 17-yard TD and a 21-0 ND lead.

• The Lions burned less than a minute off the clock in going three-and-out, and the Dons got the ball back at Leo’s 42. They needed eight plays to score, but again, coverage was non-existent when Conway found Panagiotopoulos for an 18-yard TD and a 28-0 halftime lead.

• Any hope that the Senior Day ceremony might invigorate Leo was dashed on the first scrimmage play of the second half when a  shotgun snap sailed over quarterback Derrick Davis’ head. ND’s Sean Waskevich tracked the ball down and rumbled 26 yards for a touchdown, capping a day on which he also had three sacks for a Dons defensive line that manhandled the Lions.

There were mostly clean white ND uniforms on the field when Leo finally got some offense going. After running for his life throughout the first half, Davis finished 8-for-13 for 146 yards, with TD passes of 34 and 31 yards to Trent Watson and a 7-yarder to Antonio Clark, who also had an interception. Ellison Cox earned 45 yards on his 12 carries, and Jubril Kannike had a 20-yard run. 

Davis was one of seven seniors recognized at halftime, along with Jamari Watkins, Kamren Cato, Justin Sandoval, Bernard Freeman, Chase Jordan and Jaivon Dale.

The playoffs may have eluded them, but a fourth win would be a nice capstone for a young team that’s working hard and showing signs of progress. The Lions have already matched their win total from the previous two seasons.

Marmion is 3-5 and riding a four-game losing streak. Friday’s kickoff is at 7:30 in Aurora.