WEEK 1 PREVIEW: Louisville Leopards at Canfield Cardinals

Louisville Leopards at Canfield Cardinals

WHEN: Friday, August 24 at 7:30 PM

WHERE: Bob Dove Field in Canfield (Click for Directions)

RADIO: None

TV: None

HIGHLIGHTS: Will be available following the game late Friday night or early Saturday morning right here on louisvilleleopards.org

SERIES

ALL-TIME SERIES: Canfield holds an 2-0 record over Louisville.

LAST MEETING: Canfield won 7-0 to end the Leopards season at Warren Harding’s Mollenkoff Stadium in the Regional Championship game on November 18, 2005. This was the last time the Leopards were shutout.

2000 Meeting: Canfield defeated Louisville 21-7 on November 4, 2000 in the Regional Quarterfinals held at Louisville Stadium.  Highlights from this game to come later this week so make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss it!

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PREVIEW

This one counts! Louisville and Canfield scrimmaged together in 2010 and 2011, but at Bob Dove Field Friday night the two teams that have been absent from the playoffs since 2009 look to right the ship in Week 1.  The Leopards suffered opening night losses to Walsh Jesuit the past two seasons, while Canfield outscored Kent Roosevelt in their opener last year 42-41.  The first forecast of the Leps season will be given Friday night when they travel across 224 and play Canfield for the first time in the regular season.

LEOPARDS

OFFENSE: In 4.5 games in 2011, Quarterback Joey Duckworth threw for 864 yards, 11 Touchdowns, and 6 interceptions.  Duckworth also used his legs for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns last season.  The Junior quarterback has already received offers from Bowling Green, Buffalo, and Toledo and will be the focal point of the offense.  Just like last season, his main target will be wide receiver Trent Ohman who led the NBC last year with 67 receptions for 756 yards and 5 touchdowns.  Alex Schooley returns as the only other Leopard to receive a pass from last season as he caught 4 passes for 108 yards and had one touchdown against Walsh.  Up-and-coming wide receivers that made noise in the preseason included Alex Hollifield, Trevor Hostetler, and Jeremy McQuilkin.  They, and a host of other receivers, should get plenty opportunites this season as Louisville looks to run the majority of their offense with 4 to 5 receiver sets.  Outside of Duckworth, the Leopards leading returning rusher is Trey Hayford who carried the ball 9 times for 31 yards.  Hayford lit defenses up in JV last season and ripped off a long run during the scrimmage at Jackson on August 11.  Jonah Dawson and Aaron Carter will look to replace the holes left by the graduation of Sam Pickens and Cole Lautzenheiser.

DEFENSE: Defensive Lineman Cory Neff made his home in the Orrville backfield during the final dress rehearsal Friday evening.  He had one pulse-pounding hit at the start of the game and 5 sacks later in the game.  Neff as well as Cole McElroy will be returning up front.  Behind them will be returning linebackers Gary Anile & Charles Beamer who are looking to make in impact from the start.  Beamer had 70 tackles for the Leopards a season ago.  Finally, Louisville’s Garrett Yoder had an interception in each of the scrimmages against Jackson and Orrville to lead the secondary.  Both Alex Schooley and Jeremy McQuilkin return in the secondary as well.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Merrick Storlie hit 25 of 31 extra points a season ago and hit a 50 yard Field Goal during the preliminary East-West Kicking Contest in July.  Storlie also converted on every extra point and field goal up to 42 yards at the Jackson practice scrimmage, except for missing one field goal from 35 yards out.  Storlie and the Leopards did not get off a field goal attempt last season.  Alex Schooley was booming punts in both scrimmages and averaged 34.2 yards per boot last season in 6 punt attempts.

OPENING NIGHT: The Leopards are 7-3 in the last 10 season openers, but fell to Walsh Jesuit the past two seasons.  Previous to the back-to-back Warriors losses the Leps won 6 straight, which is tied for the second longest opening night winning streak in team history (8 – 1968-75, 6 – 1946-51, 6 – 1991-96).  Louisville is 55-30-3 all-time in opening games since 1924.

CARDINALS

OFFENSE: The Cardinals return just 4 starters on the offensive side of the ball.  The biggest shoes to fill comes at the quarterback position as last year’s Senior QB Jordan Italiano will be playing for Kent State this fall after rushing for 1038 yards, passing for 659 yards, and scoring a combined 21 touchdowns.  John Foster, Jake Cole, Kimu Kim, & Drew Rogers are all probable starters for the job, which means the Leopards could see various looks Friday night.  However, finding experienced targets to throw to will prove to be a challenge for the Cardinals who had 95% of their receptions last year were caught by now graduated players.  Carter Rhodes is the top receiver coming back who caught just 2 passes for 21 yards last season and Kyle Nagy also caught one pass last season as well.  Tight Ends Tommy Kaleel and Nick Debiec will look to get in on the passing attack this season as well as block for the Cardinals smash-mouth running game.  Runningback Tommy Ciccolelli returns after rushing for 133 yards (3.2 per carry) and a touchdown last season.  The brightest spot of the Cardinal offense should come from their guard play as both Mark Blanco and Alec Buchenic both retain their starting roles.

DEFENSE: Canfield will be changing to the 3-5-3 scheme engineered by newly hired defensive coordinator Mike Kopachy.  Linebacker Conner Kesner returns as the leading tackler left from a year ago with 22 (8th on the team overall last season).  Carter Rhoads, Hayden Smith, Alec Buchenic, & Tommy Ciccolelli will round out the rest of the linebackers on defense.  Senior Tommy Kaleel will look to anchor the defensive line along with Mark Blanco.  Kaleel had 18 tackles last season and was one of just two returning players that recorded a sack a season ago.  The only other sack came from defensive back Jake Dawson, who as a Sophomore last year also had an interception as well.  The rest of Canfield’s secondary remains inexperienced, which could lead to a big day for the Leps passing attack.  With a new scheme and just four defensive starters returning, Canfield may have trouble stopping the potentially potent Louisville offense if it gets into rhythm.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Junior Edmond Pilolli will assume punting duties after averaging 29.9 yards per boot on 23 attempts last season.  Senior John Dellick will return at kicker after sharing duties with Tony El-Hayek a year ago.  Dellick made 22 PAT’s a year ago and 11 more in 2010.  Tommy Ciccolelli and Kyle Nagy return as the only players with varsity kick/punt returning experience.  The pair combined to return 3 kicks for 31 yards a season ago.

OPENING NIGHT: Canfield is 9-1 in their last 10 opening night games and defeated Dover 43-42 on opening night last season.  This is the first time Canfield has opened the season at home since 2008.

ALL-TIME SERIES:

Number of Shutouts: Canfield 1, Louisville 0

Canfield’s Highest Margin of Victory: 2000 they won 21-7

Total Points Scored: Canfield-28, Louisville-7

Average Score: Canfield-14, Louisville 4

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