Leopards Erupt in 2nd Quarter to Rout Quakers 49-6
Louisville 49, Salem 6
After trailing 6-0 at the end of the first quarter, the Louisville Leopards scored four touchdowns in a 
span of 4:10 to take command of the contest. Louisville defeated host Salem 49-6 at Reilly Stadium Friday to improve to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in NBC play.
Leopards Quarterback Connor Zwick rushed for 62 yards and was 8 of 10 passing for 113 yards and 3 touchdowns during one half of play. Tyler Adams and Alec Jones also caught two touchdowns each for Louisville.
The Quakers gave the Leopards a run for their money in the opening quarter. They forced Louisville to turn the ball over on downs at the Salem 27. They then used an 11 play, 73 yard drive to take the lead. Big plays on the drive included a 56 yard run by Kade Byland on 3rd-and-17 and a Matt Weingart to Blake Hochadel completion to convert a 4th-and-7. The same passing combination from 5 yards away put the Quakers ahead 6-0 with 2:39 left in the first quarter.
The Leopards answered back with a 9 play, 60 yard drive that ended with a Walter Schrock 2 yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter. Following that, Louisville’s defense forced a three-and-out forcing Salem to punt deep in their own end. The ensuing snap to the Punter was high, the ball bounced into the endzone, and Casey Nau recovered it for a touchdown. Just 45 seconds before the Leopards had trailed, now they led 14-6.
Zwick threw three touchdown passes before Louisville’s 35-point second quarter cam to a close. He hit Jones on a screen pass for a 40 yard score and just seven seconds later found a wide open Tyler Adams for a 35 yard touchdown reception. Cade Sterzbach came away with the ball for the Leopards after a bloop kickoff on the play in between the two Louisville scores. Stertzbach later recovered a Quaker fumble to setup the Leopards with a Goal-to-Go situation. Three plays later Zwick hit a sliding Jones in the center of the endzone to put Louisville ahead 35-6 with 2:12 to go before halftime.
The Leopards turned the ball over near midfield on their opening drive of the second half. However, momentum shifted right back to Louisville when Josh Swanson intercepted a pass near the Leopards 30 and returned it to the Quaker 34. One play later, Swanson broke free for a 34 yard touchdown reception to give Louisville a mercy-rule lead of 42-6.
Quarterback Jake Adams delivered the touchdown pass and finished a perfect 6 of 6 for 98 yards in relief of Zwick. One of those completions was an Adams to Adams (Jake Adams to Tyler Adams) touchdown connection from 20 yards out that made it 49-6 before the end of the third quarter.
Tyler Adams finished with 3 catches for a game-high 65 yards receiving and Jones had 3 catches for 52 yards for Louisville. Byland finished with 19 carries for a game-high 97 yards to lead Salem. The Leopards defense held the Quakers to just 119 yards of offense and 5 first downs on the night. Taking away their one scoring drive, Louisville held Salem to just 46 yards the rest of the evening.
With the victory, the Leopards have now defeated the Quakers the last six times the two teams have played. Louisville now leads the all-time series 7-2 which includes a 2-2 record at Salem. The 49 points scored by the Leopards is the most since they defeated North Canton Hoover 50-7 back on September 2, 2011.
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next travel to Carrollton to take on the Warriors on Friday, September 26 at 7:00 PM.
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