2011 Leopards Looking For Strong Start And Stronger Finish There is no denying that Coach John DeMarco knows that the 2011 Leps have to start strong as our Mighty Leps always face a tough non-conference schedule.  To add to the non-conference opponents, the NBC schedule has rotated to where our Leps will face the 2010 Associated Press Poll Champs and newest rival Marlington Dukes.  That being said, Coach DeMarco and our 23 Seniors are excited for the challenge of the 2011 Louisville Leopard season.  With a Strong Start and a Stronger Finish, the 2011 Louisville Leopards will look to achieve another NBC Championship along with a Playoff Run in Region 5, Division II! A good place to start with the 2011 Leps is with the Defense that is shifting from the attack 5-2 defense to the more athletic 4-3 defense.  Defensive Coordinator Nick Lewis is very excited about the athleticism on defense especially in his defensive backfield position group.  Starting with the Cornerback position, our Mighty Leps return Senior #25 Adam Nees after the stand-out missed all of the 2010 season with a knee injury.  Junior #23 Jeremy McQuilkin “McQ” will man the other Corner along with fantastic depth provided by Senior #14 Gavin Lovejoy.  The tandem of Nees and McQuilkin should be a strength for the 2011 Leps!  With Coach Lewis moving to the 4-3, the safety position has become very important to the Leopards. Senior Captain #24 Dillon Stertzbach will be the Quarterback of the defense at Free Safety. At Strong Safety, Senior #11 Jon Crank will take over the newest position implemented by Coach Lewis.  Coach Mike Kane moved from the offense to take over the Linebackers that have a few new faces and players that have shifted positions.  Junior #44 Alex Schooley will play outside linebacker where his brother Michael played for the 2010 Leps.  At the other outside linebacker, Senior Captain #16 Chad Neff will start. The man in the middle will be Junior #29 Charles Beamer. The Leps are very deep at Linebacker with Senior Captain #34 Lucas Poyser, Senior #21 Alex Jackson  and Juniors #42 Mike Weiss along with #26 Gary Anile providing depth at the LB position. Moving to the Defensive Line and shifting coaching specialties,  Coach Troy Davis brings tons of experience to the very important Defensive End position for our Mighty Leps.  You have to feel great about having Seniors #81 Jake Sluss and #20 Aaron Reynolds both returning at the position.  Both Sluss and Reynolds are two of our most experienced defenders and look to harass opposing Quarterbacks all season long.  Senior #18 Trevor Meredith also with provide the Leps with much needed depth at the position.  The most interesting position on the Leps Defense is led by Coach Mike “Horse” Norris who will look to find some “Diamonds in the Rough” in the interior defensive line.  Seniors #75 Trey Province, #69 Jeremiah Hart, and #50 Daniel Yoder is in the mix to lead the interior.  Newcomers #51 Corey Neff and #53 Cole McElroy look to play major roles in the defense.  The Leps may also look to Senior Leaders #79 Sam Pickens , #57 Tyler Brahler, #74 Andrew Frederick  along with Junior #55 Clay Hahn that should contribute throughout the year.  All in all, our Leps Defense look to fly to the Football as our Leps face a few Power Teams to start the season and end with a number of “Spread Offense”  Teams in the NBC. The Leps Special Teams unit is under the direction of Kicking Coach Dustin Nicholas will turn to Junior #87 Merrick Storlie and Senior #6 Justin Romy who will take over the Kicking Duties in 2011.  All-Everything Senior #16 Chad Neff will handle the Punting Duties.  Our return game should be in great hands with Senior #24 Dillon Stertzbach leading the way and stud athletes such as Senior #34 Lucas Poyser and Junior #5 Trent Ohman contributing.  At the high school level, the Kicking and Punting game has become so important to the success of a good football program and 2011 should prove to be no different. Even though the Defensive will man a number of new faces, Coach John DeMarco has to be licking his chops on offense with several All-Ohio Candidates and Captains  returning for the Leps!  No better place to start than is at Quarterback for our Leps! Senior Stud #16 Chad Neff returns with 16 games of varsity experience with Neff  amassing over 3,000 yards of Offense in 2010.  This Division I prospect has the rare combination of Size, Speed, and Athleticism that is generally not found at the High School Level.  I cannot wait to see Chad in action this year as our Mighty Leps make another Playoff Run.  Alongside of Chad, the Leps Quarterback position is very deep, as Coach DeMarco returns Senior #11 Jon Crank and Super Soph #7 Joey Duckworth at the position.  Both of these young men provide fantastic depth at QB and would start for most teams in the County.  Junior #19 Garrett Robbins will also contribute at the QB position for the Leps.  At the Running Back position, Leopard Legend Brian Beatty returns Senior Captain and 1,000 Rusher #34 Lucas Poyser.  I am expecting huge things out of Poyser who has been a stand-out for two consecutive years for our Mighty Leps!  #34 Poyser is in position to break some Leopard Rushing records before his career ends for the Leps! Senior #21 Alex Jackson, #20 Aaron Reynolds, and Junior #42 Mike Weiss look to provide depth at the position.  As you can see, our Mighty Leps are loaded at QB and RB, but success cannot be achieved if Coach Dan Radalia does not have the Boys Up Front to Dominate!  Well, the 2011 Leps do not have that problem and Coach Radalia will be starting 5 Seniors across the O-Line---Oh Yah!  Senior Captains and All-Ohio candidates #79 Sam Pickens and #73 Cole Lautzenheiser will play the guard positions.  Both of these young men Dominated the line of scrimmage in 2010 and I am fully expecting several “Pancake” Blocks from both #79 and #73 in 2011!  The Center position is in good hands with Senior returner #57 Tyler Brahler.  It is always important to have a good athlete at Center in a spread offense and our Leopards are in great shape with #57 Brahler.  The offensive Tackle positions will see two very athlete players in Senior #59 Blake Vernier and Senior #58 Andy Hodous.  #59 Vernier and #58 Hodous have both worked very hard in the off-season and look to round out a unit that should be a real strength for our Beloved Leps! Also, along the Offensive Line Senior #74 Andrew Frederick, #50 Daniel Yoder with Juniors #71 Austin Russell, #78 Nate Terry, #64 Chase Fomich, and #55 Clay Hahn provides depth on the O- Line! The most interesting position battles should take place with new coach and Leopard Legend Joe Greco leading the way with our Wide Receiver Core.  Starting on the outside, Senior #14 Gavin Lovejoy is looking to have a break-out season after a great off-season.  At the other outside receiver, you have Senior #8 Connor Ruffier with great speed and strength.  Seniors #41 Joshua Rouse and #18 Trevor Meredith are also in the mix at Receiver.  On the inside, Senior #22 Billy Lairson is working at the “Y” and is extremely athletic.  At the “A”,  Junior #5(Fivvvvve!) Trent Ohman takes over with tremendous play making ability!  As stated earlier, our Wide Receiver position is extremely deep and Coach DeMarco and Greco  should have a rotation which includes Senior Captain #24 Dillon Stertzbach, and Juniors #23 Jeremy McQuilkin, #44 Alex Schooley, #26 Gary Anile, and #31 Kyle White.  Hopefully, #31 White will have a healthy recovery from a recent Knee Injury.  Best of Luck Kyle! Well, another Year of Leopard Football is about to begin!  I can hear the Town Buzzing in anticipation of Leopard Football and our Opener on August 26^th vs Walsh Jesuit!  I always say it is not where you start, it is where you Finish!  That being said, the 2011 Leps need to “Start Strong” and “Finish Stronger”.                Love Ya Leps!---STATE BOUND!---Believe It! Leopard Nation ’11!   Back!   never been gone…  Let’s Go Leps!!!