Leopards Leave Final Mark on NBC With Win at Canton South – Varsity Football
Louisville 36, Canton South 20
The Louisville Leopards Varsity Football Team defeated the host Canton South Wildcats 36-20 Friday Night at Clyde Brechbuhler Stadium. With the victory, Louisville finishes the 2017 season with an even record of 5-5 overall and a 5-2 mark in the NBC.
Max Hartline finished with 23 carries for 112 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground to lead the Leopards. He also returned a punt 80 yards for a separate Louisville score.
Quarterback Colton Jones was also 14 of 20 passing for 206 yards and connected with Wide Receiver Davis Burick for a touchdown during the Leopards 23-point second quarter. Burick was Louisville’s leading receiver with 4 catches for 85 yards. Bryce Zuppe also made 3 grabs for 48 yards. After his performance Friday, Jones finished with the best single season completion percentage in school history at 73.1% (98 for 134). This eclipses the previous record of 71.1% set by John Doerschuk during the 1971 season.
The Leopards offense clicked on all cylinders out of the gate. They scored on each of their first five possessions to build a 30-0 first half lead. Hartline scored on runs of 1 and 3 yards to put Louisville ahead 13-0. Then Hannah Baughman laced a 23 yard field goal to extend the Leopard lead to 16-0. Hartline’s second return touchdown of the season and Burick’s 41 yard touchdown reception blistered the lead to 30 for Louisville.
The Leopard defense shined equally as bright in shutting down Canton South on each of their first five possessions. The Wildcats went three-and-out on 4 of those 5 series and Leopards Defensive Back Jack Davis intercepted a tipped pass to halt the other possession. The Louisville defense did not allow Canton South to get a first down until the 1:08 mark of the first half.
Once the Wildcats offense got rolling it proved scrappy in moving the ball 61 yards on 12 plays in just 1:32 of game time. The drive ended with Jared Perez catching a 1 yard touchdown reception from Quarterback Silas Snyder. Runningback JC Philippi ran in the two-point conversion to cut the Leopard lead to 30-8 heading into the locker room.
Canton South topped that with a methodical 22 play, 74 yard drive to open the second half. Every play on the drive went for under 10 yards and the Wildcats converted 3 fourth downs during the march. Philippi finished off the drive with a 1 yard touchdown run on 4th-and-Goal. That trimmed the deficit to 30-14, but the cost for South was 11:12 off the game clock.
Other than the kneel down before half, the Louisville offense did not run a play for over an hour of real time. In addition to the two long drives by South, a glow in the dark band show made for a longer halftime contributing to the gap in plays from scrimmage for LHS. On their first series, Jones completed a 29 yard pass to Wide Receiver Bryce Zuppe on 3rd-and-8 to put the Leopards in business at the Wildcats 36. However, back-to-back sacks by Canton South’s De’Ontae Williams and Tayshaun Ezell thwarted that idea and Louisville was forced to punt for the first time all night.
The Wildcats looked to get within a single score of the Leopards as they drove across midfield. They faced a pair of 4th-and-4 scenarios with Snyder diving to convert the first one. However, their magic ran out when their second fourth down of the drive fell incomplete and gave Louisville the ball back with 5:08 to play.
What happened next was truly bizarre. Burick punted as the Leopards faced 4th-and-1 from their own 44. The ball rolled dead at the Canton South 12. However, the Wildcats committed a pair of personal fouls on the play. So instead of Canton South taking over, Louisville gained 30 penalty yards and a new set of downs on the Wildcats 25. Hartline ran for 8 yards on first down and scored from 17 yards away on the play after to put the game to bed at 36-14 with 1:31 remaining.
The Wildcats managed to answer back with an immediate touchdown on their most explosive play of the night. Snyder found an open Jabril Muhammad who broke free and zig-zagged to paydirt for an 80 yard touchdown reception. Snyder would finish 13 of 29 passing for 143 yards and was also the leading rusher for Canton South with 20 carries for 83 yards.
Leopards Senior Austin Kinsey blew up the Wildcats conversion attempt to keep the score at 36-20. Canton South tried a desperation onside kick, but Dillon Rebuck was their to corral it for Louisville. Then the Leopards then went into victory formation one final time as a member of the Northeastern Buckeye Conference.
With the win, the Leopards have now won 4 straight against the Wildcats which includes 8 consecutive wins on the road at Canton South. Louisville now leads the all-time series 54-18-3, which includes a 26-10-1 mark on the road in the series. This was the Leopards final game in the Northeastern Buckeye Conference and they finish 163-33 against NBC foes all-time.
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Pictures
Cover Photo Taken By Jim & Laura Photography
Louisville at Canton South Football Pictures 2017
Louisville at Canton South Band Pictures 2017
View & Purchase Louisville Leopards Pictures on the Jim & Laura Photography Website
Game Statistics
Scoring Summary
LEOPARDS 36, WILDCATS 20
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Louisville 7-23-0-6–36
Canton South 0-8-6-6–20
1st Qtr:
L – 4:13 – Max Hartline 1 yd run
Hannah Baughman PAT
12 plays 80 yds
2nd Qtr:
L – 10:15 – Max Hartline 3 yd run
Kick Failed
10 plays 69 yds
L – 7:13 – Hannah Baughman 23 yd Field Goal
10 plays 57 yds
L – 5:16 – Max Hartline 80 yd. Punt Return
Hannah Baughman PAT
1 play 80 yds
L – 1:43 – Davis Burick 41 yd pass from Colton Jones
Hannah Baughman PAT
5 plays 55 yds
CS – 0:07 – Jared Perez 1 yd pass from Silas Snyder
J.C. Phillipi run
12 plays 61 yds
3rd Qtr:
CS – 0:48 – J.C. Phillipi 1 yd run
Run failed
22 plays 74 yds
4th Qtr:
L – 1:31 – Max Hartline 17 yd run
Kick failed
6 plays 65 yds
CS – 1:10 – Jabril Muhammad 80 yd pass from Silas Snyder
Run failed
2 plays 80 yds
Team Stats
First Downs:
Louisville: 18
Canton South: 13
Rushing:
Louisville: 27 carries for 113 yds 3 TD’s
Canton South: 33 carries for 107 yds
Passing:
Louisville: 14 of 20 for 206 yds 1 TD 0 INT’s
Canton South: 13 of 29 for 143 yds 2 TD’s 1 INT
Fumbles / Lost:
Louisville: 2 / 1
Canton South: 2 / 0
Penalties / Yds:
Louisville: 6 / 48
Canton South: 5 / 57
3rd Down Conversions:
Louisville: 3 / 7
Canton South: 2 / 12
4th Down Conversions:
Louisville: 4 / 4
Canton South: 4 / 5
Individual Stats
Rushing:
Louisville: Max Hartline: 23 carries for 112 yds 3 TD’s
Canton South: Silas Snyder: 20 carries for 83 yds
Passing:
Louisville: Colton Jones: 14 of 20 for 206 yds 1 TD 0 INT
Canton South: Silas Snyder: 13 of 29 for 143 yds 2 TD’s 1 INT
Receiving:
Louisville: Davis Burick: 4 catches for 85 yds 1 TD
Bryce Zuppe: 3 catches for 48 yds
Ryan Pukys: 3 catches for 12 yds
Logan Thomas: 1 catch for 10 yds
Jack Davis: 1 catch for 7 yds
Records: Louisville 5-5, 5-2; Canton South 6-4, 3-4
