This past Friday, the Leopard Football team played the Melissa Cardinals, coming out on top with a score of 41-38. Our team came to this match to win, wowing the crowds for Leopard Friday.
“It was a lot of fun, I felt like it was a roller coaster game, up and down until we came out on top with a victory,” Coach Ledford said
The leopards beat the cardinals last year for the district championship, so they were eager to do it again. They made sure to prepare for the game by watching Melissa film, going over scenarios for the game, and taking advantage of the bye week to practice as much as possible.
“No one was really worried about the game,” junior quarterback Jacob Janecek said. “But we prepared all throughout the week by watching film and focusing on every little detail in practice and walkthroughs of plays.”
The game was very aggressive and competitive. The leopards took the lead early with senior wide receiver Zane Kuzinski scoring the first touchdown.
“The Lovejoy offense in my opinion played one of their best games that night. It started out a little slow but once we got settled and used to what was going on, the offense pushed down the field and kept scoring to keep us ahead,” junior kicker Cooper Ryan said
On the defensive side of the game, Lovejoy played to their strengths. There were multiple interceptions, two from senior RJ McIntosh and one from junior Beyer Toyooka, along with blocking several passes.
“I was extremely happy about the interception,” senior RJ Mcintosh said. “But if it wasn’t for the other players on our defense doing their jobs and applying pressure that interception would not have been possible.”
Offensively, Lovejoy was competitive the entire game. Lovejoy got a total of five touchdowns and two field goals, and Melissa got five touchdowns, but didn’t manage to make the field goals. Jacob Janecek, Ben Adams, Daylan McCutcheon, Zane Kuzenski, and Coleman Reaugh all scored touchdowns.
“Well, we scored forty-one points. We got the ball in the red zone a lot, and we took advantage of that,” Coach Ledford said. “Jacob Janecek had a great game, and we had several receivers and running backs play.”
In the game, there were several players that stood out. RJ McIntosh, Cooper Ryan, and Jacob Janecek were the key players on the field, and helped lead their team to victory. McIntosh, a safety, had two interceptions, one pass defended, and five tackles. Janecek, the quarterback, ran the final play into the red zone, which gave Ryan, the kicker, an opportunity to kick the winning field goal.
“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous before that kick,” Ryan said. “But even though I was nervous, I had a lot of confidence in myself and my team. We work the field goal first thing every practice and so I have made that kick hundreds of times. I had a job to do.”
This game held a lot of value in the district ranking because Melissa beat Anna, who Lovejoy beat in a close match. This game was much closer than last year’s game, where the Leopard won 28-7.
“This game was important because it was a district game and our team goal is to go undefeated district champs, ” McIntosh said.
The rest of the season is looking to be promising for the Leopard football team. Lovejoy plays Independence on Friday, October eleventh, with a theme of pink out.
“This game was critical. Not only because they are our rivals, but it was another game to help us with our goal of being district champions” Janecek said.
