MENTOR, Ohio -- Once the calendar flips to October, the competition level for North Coast League Blue Division teams goes up.

Just ask first-year Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin coach Andrew Mooney, whose team entered Friday's league opener against Lake Catholic at Jerome T. Osborne Stadium with a shiny 5-0 record, and walked out a little black and blue after suffering a 37-17 setback against the resurgent Cougars.

"We are in a gauntlet right now in the month of October," Mooney said. "I told the guys to let it hurt a little bit and then come ready to work tomorrow."

Lake Catholic running back Josh Corbin carried 34 times for 150 yards and three touchdowns and quarterback Chad Stalnaker hooked up with receiver Christian Topazio-Ackley on a pair of touchdown passes.

The Cougars (4-2, 1-0 in North Coast League Blue Division) grabbed a 21-3 lead at halftime thanks to three turnovers by NDCL (5-1, 0-1 NCL Blue).

Linebacker Chase Struna's interception of a pass by Lions QB Tyler Sabath set up Topazio-Ackley's first TD, and Corbin punched in a 1-yard TD run after NDCL fumbled a kickoff.

Lake Catholic coach Scott O'Donnell praised Corbin and for his effort in eluding tacklers and the work put in by his offensive line, despite NDCL's attempt to stack its defensive front.

"Up front our offensive line got off," O'Donnell said. "(NDCL) was putting sometimes more guys than we could block in the box, and our line got it done. Josh made some good cuts and broke some tackles."

Struna, playing for the first time in two weeks, stepped up and made several tackles after Lake Catholic linebacker Hunter Williams left the game in the first quarter with a foot injury.

"It was upsetting for everybody to see Hunter go down like that," Struna said. "We knew we needed to step up. We're not a selfish group. We made adjustments."

Sabath completed 12 passes for 123 yards including a third-quarter touchdown to Lions senior receiver Alex Balogh. Brandon Mounts had 39 yards on eight carries while Savion Grove gained 37 yards on nine carries. Defensive back Josh Peroni scooped up a fumble and returned the ball 27 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The schedule does not get much easier for either team next week as NDCL returns home to host top-ranked Benedictine on Friday and Lake Catholic entertains undefeated Archbishop Hoban on Saturday.

"There's no room for feeding off anything when you've got the schedule we've got," O'Donnell said.

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