In the game of Football, there are times when you have to deal with ups and downs along with unforeseen Adversity! Our Future Leopard Legends on Little Leopard Night Got To See This First Hand! This past Friday Night, our Beloved Leps dealt with tons of Adversity in scoring 12 points in the final 12 minutes after trailing 3 to 0 after 3 Quarters of Play to defeat the Archbishop Hoban Knights. To add to the Adversity for the Head Coach Paul Farrah led Leopards was that All-Ohio Quarterback #2 Bobby Swigert got dinged up on the first play Swigert touched the ball which changes the game in all Three Phases for our Mighty Leps!

The Game was very Physical from the opening Kickoff against Akron Hoban, so Offensive Coordinator John DeMarco and Defensive Coordinator Nick Lewis had their work cut out for them. As in the First Two weeks of the Season, the Leopards Defense set the Tempo for the entire game with several Bone Jarring Hits as Hoban showed several different looks on Offense. Captains #24 Hunter Potts and #34 Jake Adkins again gave the Hoban Ball Carriers Fits while Defensive Lineman #55 Joe Poyser and #51 Joe Henderson stuffed the middle and Harassed the Hoban Quarterbacks. The unit up front which includes #50 Bobby Gothot, #36 Billy Kennedy, #49 Mat Wharmby, #16 Chad Neff, and #14 Dan Zavarelli kept our Mighty Leps in the game. Coach Mike Norris and Coach Adam Burris had this unit in Tip Top Form. Linebacker Coach Troy Davis had to be pleased with the play of #24 Potts, #34 Adkins, and #9 Michael Schooley both against the run and pass. Our Linebackers were forced into Pass Coverage and did a Great Job manning up with various looks shown by Hoban. Now, to the "Intangibles" of this fine played Football Game between two Well Coached Programs. No better place to start then with #44 Free Safety Mitchell Sluss. #44 Sluss did a fantastic job in coming up hard against the run and Fantastic in Coverage as the General of the Defense. #44 Sluss had a Huge One-Handed Interception in the first half that stalled a Hoban Drive. #15 Jeremy White did a Great Job for Four Quarters filling in for #2 Bobby Swigert at the Cornerback position. Steady as always, #31 Kyle Dehoff had great coverage and sure Tackling in a very Tough Match-Up with the Hoban #1 Receiver. Defensive Back Coach Nick Lewis had to be pleased with this unit along with the entire Leps Defense.

On the "Intangibles" side once again, #13 Toby Minster filled in for Two Series and showed great poise in leading the Offense from the Quarterback position. Along that line, Repository Player Of The Week #2 Bobby Swigert re-entered the game at Quarterback and showed unbelievable Heart in being the True Leader of this 2009 Leopard Football Team. Yards were extremely hard to come by for both Teams as Offensive Coordinator John DeMarco looked for a more conservative approach throughout the game. All in all, this left the Halftime Score matching the 2008 Hoban contest with the Knights leading once again 3 to 0 on a Field Goal in the Second Quarter.

As stated earlier, Yards were very hard to come by so Running Backs Coach Brian Beatty had his unit Grinding Out Yards. #32 Preston Massey had most of the First Half carries, while Sophomore #7 Lucas Poyser was the workhorse in the Second Half with several strong efforts in leading the Leps with 57 Yards on 15 Carries. #7 Poyser also contributed at the Linebacker position for our Leps Defense. As the Half continued, that Leopard Defense was still Dominating with sacks from #55 Joe Poyser and #50 Bobby Gothot, and a Plugging the Middle effort that should never go unnoticed from #51 Joe Henderson. #51 Henderson had another tough Match-up, and once again rose to the occasion. As our Leopards continued to grind for Yardage, the Offense was forced to go to a Shorter Passing Game. #5 Joe Stoffer led the way at Receiver with a Season High 8 Catches for 45 Yards, and a Huge Pass Break-Up on an Interception Attempt near the Goal Line. #9 Michael Schooley, #25 Cody Stocker, #21 Jared Strasser, and #22 Lee Ferguson all added catches from #2 Bobby Swigert who had 15 completions on the evening. Also, #15 Jeremy White contributed at the Wide Receiver position for the Leps. The game was starting to enter the Fourth Quarter and the Leopard Faithful definitely were on edge.

Special Teams sometimes go unnoticed, but this is another "Intangible" area that our Leps came up big! Kicking Coach Dustin Nicholas had to be very pleased as #87 Jaron Lohmeyer showed tons of poise under Pressure in nailing a 28 Yard Field Goal to tie the game in the Fourth Quarter out of the hold of #13 Toby Minster and perfect snap of #50 Bobby Gothot. #6 Logan Henkel handled the Punting and Kickoff Duties and was Stellar in each area. Speaking of Kickoff Duties, Coach Mike Norris had to be pleased with the Kickoff Team this week, which pinned back Hoban twice in the Fourth Quarter that proved to be Key in the Leps Victory. The Kickoff Team is led by Seniors #48 Justin Moulin, #14 Dan Zavarelli, #31 Kyle Dehoff, and #36 Billy Kennedy. The unit includes #33 Matt Dunnerstick, #16 Chad Neff, #7 Lucas Poyser, #44 Mitchell Sluss, along with seniors #21 Jared Strasser and #5 Joe Stoffer. Well Done Kickoff Team! With our Kickoff Team pinning Hoban back and the Defense with another Stifling effort, the Hoban Punt Snap sailed out of the end zone for a Safety and our Leps led for good 5 to 3! What is this Baseball? On the ensuing Kickoff, the word came up again "INTANGIBLE"! #44 Mitchell Sluss who was back deep for #2 Bobby Swigert busted through the middle for 36 yards with the help of Seniors #18 Tyler Barnes and #27 Michael Brown. #5 Joe Stoffer also had a key block on the return. Now, it was time for the Boys Up Front To Go To Work and time for Twooooooo to be extra special! Offense Line Coach Dan Radalia knew our Boys Up Front had their work cut out against a Mammoth Hoban Defensive Line, but our Boys stepped up on the Final Game Clinching Drive. Led by Right Guard #59 Dan McDonald and Left Guard #78 Tyler Radalia, the O-LINE which included Right Tackle #65 Dan Davis, Left Tackle #73 Joe Neff, and Center #50 Bobby Gothot opened a gaping hole as #2 Bobby Swigert took a Zone Run 35 Yards along the Left sideline to the Hoban 6 Yard Line. #2 Swigert stated that he had one Run in Him, and boy did our Mr. Football Candidate take advantage of the situation. Even Leopards Trainer Lance Sermon had to be Amazed by that Run! Several plays later, #2 Swigert scored his First TD of the year on a 1 Yard Keeper. #87 Jaron Lohmeyer was once again True to Seal a Leopards Victory 12 to 3 over a Very Strong Hoban Team.

Well, the Non-Conference schedule is complete and the NBC Schedule is about to begin! Our Mighty Leps have a very challenging Opener as our Boys travel to one of the League Favorite Canton South that will prove to be a True Battle in the NBC Opener! Also, come support our Leopard Frosh and Leopard JV Teams at Home versus Canton South as well as our Little Leopard Teams next Sunday at Louisville Stadium.

Go Leps! Beat Canton South!

Leopard Nation ’09! Back To Champs!! That Is STATE CHAMPS!!!