Louisville Leopards at West Branch Warriors 2015 Football Highlights
Louisville 34, West Branch 20
The Louisville Leopards Varsity Football team escaped with a 34-20 win over the host West Branch Warriors at Clinton Heacock Stadium Friday Night. With the victory, Louisville is now 6-1 overall and remains an undefeated 4-0 in the NBC.
The Leopards erased a fourth quarter deficit by scoring three touchdowns in the final 7:48. Runningback Rahzul Young scored on a 1 yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 20-19 and later on a 17 yard run to give Louisville a 27-20 advantage with only 4:24 left to play. Young would rumble his way to a season best 181 yards on 27 carries.
Prior to the go-ahead score, the Warriors were moving the ball downfield into Leopards territory. Dalton Deckerd appeared to have recovered a fumble with a little under seven minutes remaining, but the West Branch ball carrier was ruled down. However, just three plays later Deckerd got the ever-important takeaway by returning an interception to the Louisville 40. Defensive pressure by Cade Stertzbach forced the 3rd-and-10 throw.
Young bulldozed ahead passed midfield on the next play. Then Quarterback Jake Adams hit Tyler Adams for a 32 yard gain to the West Branch 17. On the following play, Young made at least five Warriors defenders miss on his game-winning run to the right side. Jake Adams found Alec Jones for the two-point conversion to make it 27-20 Leopards after that.
Louisville’s defense did the rest. Daichi Castles dropped the West Branch Quarterback for an 8 yard loss to force a 3rd-and-20. After an incompletion and a delay of game penalty, the Warriors elected to punt from their own 30. The shanked boot would net just 2 yards and as a result the Leopards were setup in prime position.
That’s when Louisville decided to put the final nail in the coffin. After two straight run plays milked the clock, Jake Adams dropped back to pass and found Tyler Adams for a 33 yard touchdown pass on 3rd-and-11. Tyler Adams finished with 5 catches for 104 yards to lead all receivers on the evening. That final dagger gave the Leopards a 34-20 advantage with only 0:57.6 left to play.
Castles again got to the Quarterback with the help of Linebacker Frankie Falcone to force West Branch into a 2nd-and-Long on their final drive of the game. Two plays later, Deckerd recorded his second interception of the contest to seal the deal with 14.1 seconds to go.
Jake Adams finished 11 of 18 for 210 yards passing on the night. Adams connected with Jones for two touchdowns earlier in the first half. A 6 play, 63 yard Leopard first quarter drive ended with Adams throwing a rope to Jones at the goal line to cut the Warriors lead to 13-6.
The second time the duo hooked up for a score came at a critical juncture of the game. Louisville was staring a down a two touchdown deficit with under a minute remaining until halftime. On the previous play, Adams had been thrown for an 11 yard loss back across midfield.
The play sent the elated West Branch Faithful to their feet and they remained standing as the Leopards faced a 3rd-and-13. On the next play, Adams rocketed a 51 yard bomb to a wide open Jones for a back-breaking touchdown. The elation turned to deflation in the home stands as Louisville trimmed the West Branch lead to 20-13 with 1:24 to go in the first half. Jones would end the evening with 3 catches for 71 yards.
The Warriors were led by Runningback Trae Hillyer who finished with 33 carries for 131 yards and 3 touchdowns. His efforts helped West Branch build a 13-0 first quarter lead less than nine minutes into the contest. Quarterback T.J. DeShields was also 9 of 16 passing for 131 yards and his top target was Austin R. Smith who racked up 67 yards on 3 catches for West Branch.
With the win, the Leopards have now defeated the Warriors three straight times and have taken 15 of the last 17 meetings overall. Louisville now leads the all-time series 24-7, which includes a 12-3 mark at West Branch.
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next host the Carrollton Warriors on Friday, October 16. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM at Louisville Leopards Stadium.
Pictures
View & Purchase Louisville Leopards Pictures on the Jim & Laura Photography Website
Don’t forget to Subscribe to Our Posts for Free
Full Statistics
Scoring Summary
LOEPARDS 34, WARRIORS 20
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Louisville 6-7-0-21–34
West Branch 13-7-0-0–20
1st Qtr:
WB – 9:28: Trae Hillyer 5 yd run
Marcus Hoopes PAT
4 plays 42 yds
WB – 3:23: Trae Hillyer 4 yd run
Kick Failed
10 plays 61 yds
L – 1:24: Alec Jones 11 yd pass from Jake Adams
Pass Failed
6 plays 63 yds
2nd Qtr:
WB – 7:45: Trae Hillyer 9 yd run
Marcus Hoopes PAT
8 plays 46 yds
L – 0:43: Alec Jones 51 yd pass from Jake Adams
Rahzul Young PAT
5 plays 58 yds
4th Qtr:
L – 7:48: Rahzul Young 1 yd run
Pass Failed
8 plays 60 yds
L – 4:24: Rahzul Young 18 yd run
Alec Jones pass from Jake Adams
3 plays 60 yds
L – 0:57: Tyler Adams 33 yd pass from Jake Adams
Rahzul Young PAT
3 plays 33 yds
Team Stats
1st Downs:
Louisville: 20
West Branch: 13
Rushing:
Louisville: 30 carries 184 yds
West Branch: 39 carries 132 yds
Passing:
Louisville: 11 of 18 for 210 yds 3 TD’s 2 INT
West Branch: 9 of 16 for 131 yds 0 TD’s 2 INT’s
Fumbles / Lost:
Louisville: 2/1
West Branch: 0/0
Penalties / Yds.
Louisville: 3 / 35
West Branch: 6 / 51
3rd Down Conversions:
Louisville: 3 / 7
West Branch: 3 / 14
4th Down Conversions:
Louisville: 1 / 2
West Branch: 4 / 5
Individual Stats
Rushing:
Louisville: Rahzul Young: 27 carries for 181 yds. 2 TD’s
West Branch: Trae Hillyer: 33 carries for 131 yds 3 TD’s
Passing:
Louisville: Jake Adams: 11 of 18 for 210 yds 3 TD’s 2 INT’s
West Branch: T.J. Deshields: 9 of 16 for 131 yds 0 TD’s 2 INT’s
Receiving:
Louisville: Tyler Adams: 5 catches for 104 yds 1 TD
Alec Jones: 3 catches for 71 yds 2 TD’s
Conner Bast: 2 catches for 27 yds
Brock Haren: 1 catch for 8 yds
West Branch: Austin Smith: 3 catches for 67 yds
Records: Louisville 6-1, 4-0; West Branch 5-2, 3-1
