Cash Lewandowski scored four touchdowns, Blake Thomas added a pair of interceptions and a long score of his own, and two 14-point swings defined the game as Rockhurst won its most competitive game of the year, a 42-28 victory over Lee’s Summit West on Sept. 19, 2025.
With an opportunity to go up two scores with 1:23 left in the game, Rockhurst head coach Kelly Donohoe opted against using his kicking unit on fourth-and-3 from the Titans’ 7-yard line in favor of Lewandowski. The junior running back put the game away for good on a toss to the right.
“It was a tough angle on the right hash [for a field goal try],” Donohoe said. “I didn’t want to see a potential block that would lead to them scoring…so that was just a gut feeling of mine.”
Donohoe’s trust in his offense was rewarded with strong blocking to the right side, junior right tackle Jackson Sallee along with senior fullback Henry Coppinger laid key blocks to lead Lewandowski into the end zone untouched.
Lewandowski’s scoring surge began right out of the gates. After winning the toss and opting to receive, the Hawklets made an early statement in the form of a methodical 15-play opening drive that resulted in a touchdown by the junior.
West responded by intercepting junior quarterback Garrett Miller on the Hawklets’ next drive, before scoring on a 16-yard run by junior Caiden Goodwin.
West subsequently regained possession with a surprise onside kick. It would be the first of two significant special teams plays, as the Titans would later score on a third quarter kickoff return touchdown. Donohoe noted the third phase as a point of emphasis for his team going forward.
“Our special teams coverage was bad,” Donohoe said. “Those are the things upsetting us, because that’s stuff we work on all the time. That’s basic fundamentals of football.”
Other fundamental aspects of the team, namely the deep connection between Miller and Thomas, showed no signs of struggle. The juniors connected on long strikes of 44 and 35 yards—the latter of which went for six—in the second half. This came after Thomas collected two interceptions from his boundary corner spot on defense in the first two frames.
“I thought it was a great job on the defensive line to be able to get pressure. I was able to see the quarterback’s eyes,” Thomas said of his defensive efforts.
Despite briefly exiting with cramps in the third quarter, Thomas was able to return and leave his mark on offense.
“Garrett was able to find me.” Thomas said. “I thought that was a great look from him.”
After falling in a 21-7 hole halfway through third quarter, West strung together three consecutive scoring drives, the last of which tied the game at 28 with 8:10 left in the final quarter.
Rockhurst appeared to be floundering as a fumbled snap forced the Hawklets into third-and-10 at midfield with just over five minutes to play.
Lewandowski responded with the play of the game, an electric 51-yard receiving strike delivered by a heavily pressured Miller, who was knocked on his back as he released. Throwing off of his back foot, Miller lofted the pass to Lewandowski, who shrugged off four defenders down the right sideline for the go-ahead score.
The ensuing defensive stand resulted in a turnover on downs, with Lewandowski’s freshman brother Cruz in coverage on the fourth-and-2 stop that set up Cash’s fourth and final trip to the end zone.
Donohoe commended his team’s ability to stay composed and finish the game in convincing fashion.
“A young team like ours, typically they don’t respond to that, and they kind of get that wide-eyed look,” Donohoe said. “To bounce back and win like we did, I got unbelievably proud.”
Despite tackling issues at all three levels of the defense, Donohoe was pleased with his defense’s performance against an athletic group of Titan skill players, especially with the absence of the senior safety trio of Charlie Bernstein, Pierce Fisher and Max Moylan due to injuries.
“We just haven’t had much good news on injuries,” Donohoe said. “We’re going to get some guys back this week, so that will be very helpful to us.”
This game did produce another injury obstacle to overcome. Starting left tackle James O’Farrell tore his meniscus in one of his knees on the drive that put the game away. Senior Gabe Moore will fill in for the time being, but senior Kevin Sullivan, a University of Kansas commit as a tight end, is expected to fill the spot on the offensive line when he’s ready to return from a dislocated elbow.
The win over the Titans improves Rockhurst to a perfect 4-0 as West finishes the first month of the season with a 1-3 record.
“Sometimes people get caught up in records,” Donohoe said. “But we saw a team that had some really good football players…a team that was going to be really hungry to beat us, and it was everything we feared.”
With the storm weathered, the Hawklets are now tasked with defending their home field in a homecoming matchup with the Stags of Bishop Miege.
“It’s a big game for us, huge game. We gotta get that,” Thomas said.
Donohoe fostered the same excitement for the upcoming rivalry game, but emphasized cleaning up the issues that let West back in the game.
“Our kids will be jacked up for that game, but we’ve still got a long way to go,” Donohoe said. “We’ve got to get a lot better, or we’re going to have some tough Friday nights, and we don’t want tough Friday nights.”
The Hawklets will look to preserve their perfect record in just their second home game of the year as “Stag season” –as the students like to call it–opens Friday at Dasta Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m.
