Lehman Catholic’s Turner Lachey is pushed towards the sideline by Southeastern’s Xaviar Baird, left, and Eli Goodbar, at Sidney Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Lehman Catholic’s William Ford, top, and Jackson Kennedy bring down Southeastern’s Hayden Davis at Sidney Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Lehman Catholic quarterback Donovan O’Leary runs against Southeastern at Sidney Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Lehman Catholic’s Turner Lachey tries to get around Southeastern’s Cole Dent at Sidney Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Lehman Catholic quarterback Donovan O’Leary runs against Southeastern at Sidney Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
Lehman Catholic quarterback Donovan O’Leary passes while playing Southeastern at Sidney Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
L14 L71 Lehman Catholic’s Da’Ron Pride runs the ball as Jace Olding blocks Southeastern’s Xaviar Baird at Sidney Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
SIDNEY — Lehman Catholic fell behind by two touchdowns in the first quarter but didn’t let Southeastern run away in a nonconference game on Saturday at Sidney Memorial Stadium.
While the Cavaliers lost 30-21, it was a strong showing against a squad with many returnees from a 7-5 campaign last year.
The Cavaliers (1-1) went three-and-out on their two possessions in the first quarter but amassed over 300 yards of offense in the last three quarters and twice pulled within two points in the second half.
Lehman finished with 333 yards of offense while Southeastern finished with 331.
After Southeastern (2-0) punted to start the third quarter, Lehman drove and scored on a 4-yard TD run by senior quarterback Donovan O’Leary to pull within 16-14.
The Trojans responded with a lengthy drive and scored when senior quarterback Zack McKee threw a short pass to Hayden Davis, who ran left up the visitor’s sideline 23 yards for a touchdown with 4:53 left in the third to boost the lead to 23-14.
The Cavaliers again drove and scored on a short run by O’Leary with 11:20 left in the fourth to cut the gap to 23-21.
But the Trojans responded when Davis scored on a 2-yard TD run with 8:21 left to increase the lead back to nine points.
Lehman had two drives end on turnovers in the final eight minutes; they committed five turnovers in the game. Southeastern defensive back Jonah Asebrook intercepted three passes, including one to end the Cavaliers’ final possession.
O’Leary completed 14-of-27 passes for 157 yards with one TD and ran for 121 yards and two TDs on 22 carries. Turner Lachey caught nine passes for 58 yards. Da’Ron Pride ran for 63 yards on 10 carries. Dillon Schmiesing led the team with eight tackles.
McKee completed 10-of-15 passes for 92 yards with one TD. Davis ran for 90 yards and three TDs on 25 carries.
The Trojans went on long and lengthy drives in the first quarter, each of which were capped by 1-yard TD runs by Davis to give the squad a 13-0 lead.
But O’Leary and the Cavaliers’ offense got going in the second. He capped off a long drive with a 9-yard TD pass to Devin Pride to cut the gap to 13-7.
The Cavaliers were driving late in the second quarter before Southeastern recovered a fumble, drove and scored on a 31-yard field goal by Carson Krieg with under a minute left to boost the lead to 16-7 at halftime.
Lehman is scheduled to travel to Benjamin Logan (0-2) on Friday for its last nonconference game.
Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.
