Leo’s big second half keys win

Updated: September 10, 2011 4:46PM

Leo used a sound running game and superb defense to defeat St. Ignatius 44-16 in a Catholic Red showdown at Gately Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Leo (2-1, 1-1) led by just eight points at the half after Leo quarterback Jarod Cooper connected with Joshua Owens on a 15-yard touchdown to make it 16-8 before the break. The Lions excelled in stopping the Wolfpack’s (1-2, 0-1) running game by holding them to 31 yards on 14 rushing attempts in the first half.

St. Ignatius decided to air it out in the second half and Leo took full advantage as Wolfpack quarterback Dan Schiltz threw five interceptions, three of which the Lions returned for a touchdown.

“We have a great run defense,” Leo coach Michael Holmes said. “When we stop the run we know we can also make plays by taking it away out of the air and we did that today.”

Leo got solid production from its running game, as Keith Harris ran for 143 yards on 20 carries, including a 32-yard touchdown run that came one play after St. Ignatius fumbled a punt with five seconds remaining in the third quarter to give Leo a 24-14 lead.

“Keith is our workhorse,” Holmes said. “I think he’s one of the best running backs in the state.”

The Lions used the Wolfpack fumbled punt return as a momentum builder. After St. Ignatius got the ball back from Harris’ touchdown run, Leo picked off an errant Schiltz throw to make it 30-14.

“We definitely fed off that energy,” Holmes said.

Leo was in search of a bounce-back win after getting upset by Hales last week in the Catholic Red season opener, so Holmes was all smiles after Saturday’s victory.

“I think our guys looked past Hales a bit because they haven’t beaten us in 10 years,” Holmes said. “But we got our focus back now.”

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.