WEEK 3 PREVIEW: Ravenna Ravens at Louisville Leopards

Ravenna Ravens at Louisville Leopards 2012 Football Preview

Ravenna Ravens (1-1) at Louisville Leopards (1-1)

Ravenna Ravens Football Helmet

WHEN: Friday, September 7 at 7:00 PM

WHERE: Louisville Leopards Stadium

RADIO: None

TV: None

IN-GAME UPDATES: Follow Us On Twitter @LouisvilleLeps or Text “Follow LouisvilleLeps” to 40404

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

SERIES

ALL-TIME SERIES: Louisville holds a 12-2-2 record over Ravenna

LAST MEETING: In a game that included a two hour lightning delay, the Ravens defeated the Leopards 31-6 to earn their first victory over Louisville since 1929.

LAST LEOPARDS WIN: Louisville won 37-34 to open the new Louisville Leopards Stadium in Week 3 of the 2010 season back on September 10.

PREVIEW

There’s no place like home!  After, a crushing 41-14 loss at Hoover last week there is no better chance for Louisville to right the ship than in front of the hometown fans.  The Leopards are 9-1 at home since moving into the new stadium and have won 21 of their last 22 games at home overall.  Louisville will look to use that extra home field atmosphere to erase a 31-6 loss at Ravenna last season.  The Ravens come in 1-1 after beating Tallmadge in overtime 29-26 in Week 1 and falling to Aurora 37-21 in Week 2.  The Ravens destiny remains a mystery for 2012 as they graduated 20 players to graduation last season.  Ravenna beat Louisville for the first time since 1929 last season and the question remains can they come to Louisville and repeat the feat?  It’s Louisville, it’s Ravenna, and it’s the Battle for Route 44 Friday night at Louisville Leopards Stadium!

LEOPARDS

OFFENSE: The Leopards were held to 220 yards and just 14 points last week at Hoover and will look to reverse that trend in the home opener Friday.  Quarterback Joey Duckworth is the key to the offense as he leads the team in both passing (42 of 72 for 452 yards, 3 TDs, 3 Int) and rushing (16 rushes for 86 yards).  Duckworth will look to get into a rhythm earlier in the comfort of his home surroundings by dumping the ball of to his primary receivers in Trent Ohman (14 Receptions, 157 yards, 1 Touchdown), Alex Schooley (10 Receptions, 101 yards, 1 Touchdown,), and Alex Hollifield (6 Receptions, 76 yards, 1 Touchdown).  The Ravens defense did surrender 195 yards on the ground and three rushing touchdowns during their week one overtime 29-26 win over Tallmadge and also gave up large gains on the ground against Aurora last week.  The Leopards may look to tear into that rushing defense by using runningback Trey Hayford (8 Carries for 42 Yards, 2 TDs).

DEFENSE: Linebacker Gary Anile was all over the field last Friday at Hoover and will look to continue to make an impact on defense this Friday.  Anile ended two Hoover drives with an interception and a sack on 4th-and-goal.  Both Garrett Yoder (1 Interception, 1 Beatty's Sports 2012 Football ShirtFumble Recovery) and Kyle White (Touchdown Saving Pass deflection at Hoover) have made big plays in the secondary this year.  Linebacker Charles Beamer and Defensive Lineman Cory Neff each had a sack each last week at Hoover as well.  The last time Neff played on the Leopards home turf was the scrimmage against Orrville where he had 5 sacks.  Look for the homefield energy to fire him and the rest of the Leopards defense up.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Merrick Storlie is a perfect 5 for 5 on extra points this season.  The last time the Leopards made a field goal at home was when Jaron Lohmeyer booted through a 25 yard field goal with 8 seconds left in the game to lift Louisville over Ravenna 37-34 in the first game at the new Louisville Leopards stadium.  Alex Schooley has averaged 27.6 yards per boot this season (7 for 193 yards) and the Leopards special teams will look to avoid having another punt blocked like they did at North Canton.  Garrett Yoder will return punts (2 for 20 yards) and Trent Ohman will be the main return man on kicks (7 for 116 yards, 16.6 Average).

2007 Louisville at Ravenna Highlights

RAVENS

OFFENSE: Ravenna’s Senior Starting quarterback Kyle Spellman broke a bone in his right hand during week one’s overtime win against Tallmadge.  In his stead will be Tate Bennett who completed 15-of-21 passes for 230 yards and 3 touchdowns in last week’s 37-21 loss to Aurora.  With Bennett in at quarterback it should be one less dimension for the Leopards defense to worry about as he is not as big of a threat to run the ball as Spellman is.  Jermaine Justice caught two touchdown passes for the Ravens last week and Kyle Kornbau caught the other.  Dylan Fox will look to make an impact receiving and Demetrious Fear will look to make up for Spellman’s loss in the running game.  The Ravens fumbled 6 times last week and will look to protect the ball on the Leopards turf.

DEFENSE: Logan Reaser recovered a fumble for Ravenna in last week’s contest for Aurora.  Most of the scoring last week against Aurora was not the fault of the defense who saw just 12 downs.  Breakdowns in special teams gave Aurora 9 points, while turnovers allowed the Greenman great field position all night long.  The defense did however give up big plays to Aurora’s potent rushing attack.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Ravens had a breakdown in special teams last week against Aurora.  The Greenman blocked a punt that resulted in a safety, blocked a field goal attempt and took it to the house, and also stopped a fake punt late in the game.  Ben Morgan was 3-of-3 on extra points last week against Aurora and also booted a clutch game-tying 20 yard field goal to send the week one game into overtime.

ALL-TIME SERIES:

1992 Louisville Vs. Ravenna Highlights

Number of Shutouts: Louisville-4, Ravenna-2

Leopards Highest Margin of Victory: 2001 they won 39-0

Ravenna’s Highest Margin of Victory: 2011 they won 31-6

Total Points Scored: Louisville-361 Ravenna-201

Average Score: Louisville-23, Ravenna-13

Game Year W-L-T Louisville Ravenna
1 1927 T 6 6
2 1928 W 19 13
3 1929 L 0 20
4 1930 T 0 0
5 1990 W 22 10
6 1991 W 19 13
7 1992 W 35 12
8 1993 W 27 6
9 1994 W 35 0
10 2001 W 39 0
11 2002 W 34 23
12 2007 W 35 28
13 2008 W 29 15
14 2009 W 28 0
15 2010 W 27 24
15 2011 L 6 31

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