The Gilmour Academy varsity football team got out of the gates quickly and built an insurmountable lead as the Lancers defeated Cleveland Central Catholic High School 42-22 this past Saturday at Weber Stadium.
The win moved Gilmour to 5-1 on the season with three regular-season games remaining.
Gilmour took away any drama from the proceedings early on as it scored three touchdowns without reply in the first quarter. The Lancers held a 35-0 lead at the half, a margin that grew to 42 after three quarters.
The Ironmen would score 22 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, as a number of Lancer reserves had been inserted into the game for the final possessions.
Jake Kavcic '24 had an incredibly efficient day leading the GA offense. He hit 17-of-19 passes for 169 yards as he tossed four touchdown passes without an interception.
Andy Kavcic '24 and Tommy McCrone '23 tied for team-high honors with seven catches each, with both surpassing 70 receiving yards.
Brady Pietruszka '24 led Gilmour on the ground, posting 78 yards on 17 carries, including his first touchdown of the season. His effort helped the Lancers own a significant 204-31 advantage in rushing yards on the afternoon.
Rocco Hice '23 posted a team-high 11 tackles, leading a defensive effort that saw Gilmour hold its guests to fewer than 200 yards of total offense.
Gilmour opened the scoring four minutes into the game when Jake hit Andy with a 10-yard pass. The twins combined hooked up again fewer than four minutes later when Jake found Andy with a 15-yard strike. Jake would throw a third touchdown of the opening quarter when he found a wide open Jesse Shepherd '23 in the back left corner of the end zone with a 12-yard pass.
If Gilmour's high-scoring first quarter left any doubt, the Lancers removed it by scoring twice more in the second quarter.
Fewer than two minutes into the second quarter, Jake Kavcic scrambled to his left and found McCrone coming back to the ball near the goal line for a 25-yard touchdown.
Dan Jevnikar '22 secured GA's first rushing touchdown of the day with a 10-yard scamper later in the second quarter, setting the halftime score at 35-0.
Gilmour added to its lead in the third quarter with a four-yard run by Pietruszka.
Cleveland Central Catholic found the end zone three times in the final quarter, via two passes and one rush.
Gilmour tallied 29 first downs in the contest to just four for the Ironmen.
Earlier in the week, Gilmour's junior varsity team claimed a 32-12 victory at University School, helping the Lancers sweep both matchups from their archrivals this season.
Pietruszka had a pair of 65-yard touchdown runs while Cooper Panteck '25 found Evan Wintersteller '24 with a 30-yard touchdown pass.
Both Ian Anderson '22 and Thomas DeCicco '24 returned fumbles for touchdowns for Gilmour.
Bernard McDonald '25 had a monster game to lead the defense, tallying 20 tackles. Anderson, Quinn Cavanaugh '25, Brody Lennon '25, Alex Chadwick '25, Jake Williams '25, DeCicco and Ian Colleran '24 all put in notable efforts to help Gilmour dominate the line of scrimmage.
Gilmour's varsity team will play its final regular-season game at Weber Stadium this coming Saturday as it welcomes Brush High School.