By ANDREW FEEBACK
The Norwell Knights found themselves trailing just 7-0 and threatening to score late in the first half against the visiting Leo Lions Friday night.
Then, the first of five turnovers occurred, and the shorthanded Knights (0-3) were suddenly in a hole that proved too difficult to climb out of.
“I thought the kids played really hard,” coach Josh Gerber said. “We gave ourselves chances to keep it close early. Turnovers hurt a bit; being shorthanded, we just didn’t have enough to get it done tonight.”
Leo (2-1) took a 7-0 lead when Kyler Decker threw a 38-yard pass to Kaden Hurst.
The Knights were knocking on the door when they reached the Lions’ 20-yard line with about three minutes left in the first half.
At that point, sophomore quarterback Caden Cassel had completed 8 of 11 passes for 109 yards.
But Hurst intercepted his next pass and returned it 83 yards for a backbreaking 14-0 Lion lead.
“I thought Caden had a really good game overall,” Gerber said. “There was a throw late in the second quarter. I think he wishes he had it back, but all in all, I’m proud of how he stepped up in a difficult spot. He stood in, made throws, and took some shots. He played hard and had a nice game for us.”
Just two plays later, with Norwell inside its own 20-yard-line, Cassel was picked off again, this time by Dearious Carter.
Brett Fuller scored three plays later to give Leo a 20-0 lead.
Norwell’s Cohen Bailey came up with an interception for the Knights early in the second half.
That started a productive drive for Norwell, which made it inside the 10 but ended with a fumble.
Fuller took a pitch and scored from 22 yards out five seconds before the third quarter ended.
The Knights fumbled a snap, and Carter’s touchdown finished the scoring.
There wasn’t much to be gained on the ground in this game for Norwell, which finished with 96 rushing yards on 37 attempts.
Cassel finished 11 of 22 passing with 126 yards.
The Lions racked up 204 rushing yards on 33 attempts.
Gerber wants his team to just keep moving forward.
“We’ve just got to continue to grow and get better,” he said. “Hopefully, we can get some guys healthy, but regardless of who we have, we’ve got to continue to get better with each game, with each week, and with each rep. That will be our focus.”
Norwell will host Bellmont on Friday night at 7 p.m.
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LEO 33, NORWELL 0
At Norwell High School
Score By Quarters
Leo 7 13 7 6 – 33
Norwell 0 0 0 0 – 0
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
L—Kaden Hurst 38 pass from Kylar Decker (Riley Stewart kick), 5:42.
Second Quarter
L—Hurst 83 interception return (Stewart kick), 2:48.
L—Brett Fuller 9 run (kick failed), 1:24.
Third Quarter
L—Fuller 22 run (Stewart kick), 0:05.
Fourth Quarter
L—Dearious Carter 4 run (kick blocked), 10:48.
Team Statistics
LEO NOR
First Downs 10 14
Rushes-Yards 33-204 37-96
Yards Passing 83 126
Passing (C-A-I) 7-14-1 11-22-2
Penalties-Yards 6-65 6-55
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 3-3
Punts-Average 3-36 4-38
Time of Possession 22:04 25:56
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Leo, Brett Fuller 12-81, Kaden Hurst 3-80, Dearious Carter 3-3, Kamden Zeisloft 2-9, Anthony Nicklow 3-11, Kylar Decker 2-8, Aidan Monds 3-11, Rashaad Bingham 3-1. Norwell, Trey Bodenheimer 17-67, Drew Jolley 6-4, Cayden Cassel 6-8, Quentauris Jones 6-19, Collin Burns 1-0.
Passing: Leo, Decker 7-14-1-83. Norwell, Cassel 11-22-1-126.
Receiving: Leo, Landin Hoeppner 1-4, Hurst 2-53, Brock Schott 2-20, Zeisloft 1-7, Aiden Furnish 1-(minus 1).
