Louisville Battles Hard but Falls to 4-Time State Champion La Salle 35–24 – Football
#10 Cincinnati La Salle 35, Louisville 24
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The Louisville Leopards Varsity Football Team fell to the #10 ranked Cincinnati La Salle Lancers 35-24 Friday Night at Louisville Leopards Stadium. With the loss, Louisville drops to 5-4 on the season.
Game Stats | Scoring Summary | Team Stats | Individual Stats
DiMarzio Leads Leopard Rushing Attack
Senior running back Owen DiMarzio accounted for more than half of Louisville’s 227 total yards of offense. DiMarzio carried the ball 10 times for 132 yards and helped setup the Leopards’ first touchdown of the game.
Trailing 14-3 in the second quarter, DiMarzio broke free for a 68-yard run down to the La Salle 1-yard line. Sophomore quarterback Cody Zahler ran a QB Sneak on the next play for the final yard to make it 14-10.
Louisville would not find the end zone again until Zahler ran in another keeper from a yard out with 8:50 remaining in the contest. DiMarzio ran the ball 5 times for 51 yards on that 9-play, 70-yard scoring drive that included a 28-yard first down run to the Lancer 14.
Johnson 70-Yard Scoop and Score Trims Deficit Late
La Salle looked poised to add to their lead late in the fourth quarter, but a high snap changed those plans. Sophomore quarterback Garrett Fraley wasn’t able to retrieve the ball skipping off the turf and Louisville sophomore Caden Kortis stormed in to knock the ball away from Fraley. After one more hop off the turf, senior linebacker Bryce Johnson snagged the fumble and took it back 70 yards to the house to cut the deficit to 35-22 with 2:28 remaining.
The Leopards executed a double reverse pass on the conversion attempt to perfection. Senior wide receiver Quin Burick passed to Zahler in the near-right corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion to make it 35-24.
La Salle Offense Generates 508 Yards and 5 Touchdowns
The Lancers would recover the onside kick and run the clock out from there. La Salle was dominant across the stat line leading in total yards 508-227 and first downs 28-10. The Lancers ran 77 plays on offense, while the Leopards only ran 37.
The La Salle rushing attack was a well-oiled machine that finished with 53 attempts for 338 yards and all 5 touchdowns. Senior quarterback Avier Carter had 16 carries for 123 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns. Senior running back Colin Wooldridge also broke the century mark with 10 carries for 114 yards and 2 third quarter touchdowns. Wooldridge’s 49-yard touchdown run capped off a third quarter that saw the Lancers outscore the Leopards 21-0 to open up a 35-10 advantage. Frayle also tallied 14 carries for 76 yards and junior Naseer Salaam scored on a 7-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Carter was also 15 of 24 passing for 170 yards. His top targets were Drew Dipzinski who made 6 receptions for 50 yards and Tyler Roby who had 4 receptions for 37 yards. Salaam also had a 31-yard catch and Rodney Portis a 30-yard reception.
Dougherty and Kortis Lead Louisville in Tackles
Junior linebacker Colton Dougherty and Kortis led Louisville’s defense with 13 tackles each. Dougherty also recorded a tackle for a loss and pass break-up. Jakeb Beard, Kortis, Zander McCrobie, and Luke Seaman all had tackles for losses as well. Beard and Aden Norris were also credited with pass break-ups at the line.
Other double-digit tacklers included Seaman with 11 and Kandel with 10. Kandel, Kortis, and Drake Wilson led the team with 5 solo tackles a piece.
Portis led the La Salle defense with an interception, sack, and a tackle for a loss. Claude Moore and Zion Maddox also recorded interceptions for the Lancers. Shabbar Jones had a sack to go along with a tackle for a loss. Wooldridge led La Salle in tackles with 7, while Jordan Hall finished with a team-leading 4 solo tackles.
Leopard Defensive Stop Leads to Early Daum Field Goal
The Leopard defense helped Louisville hang in the game early with a turnover on downs in Lancer territory in the opening quarter. On a 3rd-and-1, Cater was tackled in the backfield by Dougherty and Kortis for a 3-yard loss. The ensuing 4th-and-4 pass fell incomplete and Louisville took over at the La Salle 40.
The Leopards took advantage of the short field as senior Quarterback Gabe Stoffer found sophomore tight end Jake Baker for a 26-yard completion on 4th-and-2 to setup goal-to-go at the Lancer 6. Baker would finish the night as Louisville’s leading receiver with 2 catches for 31 yards.
The Leopards were unable to punch it into the end zone and settled for a Parker Daum 24-yard field goal, his fifth of the season.
Zahler Takes Over After Stoffer Injury
Stoffer finished 5 of 8 passing for 55 yards before leaving the game in the second quarter with an undisclosed injury. Zahler finished 2-of-6 passing for 31 yards.
Burick also had 2 receptions for 24 yards.
Furthest an Opponent Has Traveled to Louisville
Cincinnati La Salle is the only new opponent on Louisville’s 2025 regular season schedule and the 91st unique opponent Louisville football has faced all-time.
The 246.1 miles is the furthest a Leopard opponent has ever traveled to play at Louisville. La Salle is the third most southern team the Leopards have ever faced in their history with their stadium at 39.20° North. Only Point Pleasant (39.07° N) who Louisville visited in 2019 and Cincinnati Anderson (39.07°) who the Leopards lost to in the 2007 State Championship were further south.
Top 10 Most Southern Opponents in Louisville Football History
| Rank | Opponent | City / Area | Latitude (° N) |
| 1 | Point Pleasant | Point Pleasant, WV | 38.85° N |
| 2 | Cincinnati Anderson | Anderson Township, OH | 39.07° N |
| 3 | Cincinnati La Salle | Monfort Heights, OH | 39.20° N |
| 4 | Pickerington Central | Pickerington, OH | 39.88° N |
| 5 | Columbus Marion-Franklin | Columbus, OH | 39.89° N |
| 6 | Thornville Sheridan | Thornville, OH | 39.90° N |
| 7 | Columbus Independence | Columbus, OH | 39.91° N |
| 8 | Zanesville | Zanesville, OH | 39.94° N |
| 9 | Columbus St. Francis DeSales | Columbus, OH | 40.05° N |
| 10 | Linsly | Wheeling, WV | 40.07° N |
Playoff Picture
The Leopards currently sit in 11th in Division II, Region 7 with a 53% chance to make the playoffs. They will need to take care of business when they host winless Wooster in Week 10 and need to get some help to earn a playoff berth for the first time since 2015.
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next host the Wooster Generals in the regular season finale on Friday, October 24. Game time is set for 7:00 PM from Louisville Leopards Stadium.
Cover Photo By: Rick Everhart Photography
Louisville Opponents Week 9 Schedule
at New Philadelphia 26, West Holmes 21
at Alliance 35, Minerva 0
at Fairless 22, Northwest 21, OT
at Salem 61, Marlington 39
at Lake 20, North Canton Hoover 14
Triway 28, at Canton Central Catholic 0
Canfield 44, at Howland 3
Green 28, at Perry 21
at Ashland 52, Wooster 7
Donate to Leopard Nation
La Salle at Louisville Football Game Statistics
Scoring Summary
LEOPARDS 35, LANCERS 24
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
La Salle 7-7-21-0–35
Louisville 3-7-0-14–24
1st Quarter
LA SALLE – Avier Carter 8-Yard Run | LOUISVILLE 0, LA SALLE 7, 10:31
6 Plays, 60 Yards, 1:24
LOUISVILLE – Parker Daum 24-Yard Field Goal | LOUISVILLE 3, LA SALLE 7, 1:10
8 Plays, 40 Yards, 4:32
2nd Quarter
LA SALLE – Naseer Salaam 7-Yard Run (Grayson Bedacht Kick) | LOUISVILLE 3, LA SALLE 14, 8:49
6 Plays, 64 Yards, 1:46
LOUISVILLE – Cody Zahler 1-Yard Run (Parker Daum Kick) | LOUISVILLE 10, LA SALLE 14, 7:48
2 Plays, 69 Yards, 0:53
3rd Quarter
LA SALLE – Colin Wooldridge 1-Yard Run (Grayson Bedacht Kick) | LOUISVILLE 10, LA SALLE 21, 6:56
10 Plays, 57 Yards, 3:18
LA SALLE – Avier Carter 28-Yard Run (Conner Kalkhoff Kick) | LOUISVILLE 10, LA SALLE 28, 2:24
8 Plays, 58 Yards, 2:49
LA SALLE – Colin Wooldridge 49-Yard Run (Grayson Bedacht Kick) | LOUISVILLE 10, LA SALLE 35, 0:59
3 Plays, 55 Yards, 1:00
4th Quarter
LOUISVILLE – Cody Zahler 1-Yard Run (Pass Failed) | LOUISVILLE 16, LA SALLE 35, 8:50
9 Plays, 74 Yards, 4:04
LOUISVILLE – Bryce Johnson 70-Yard Fumble Return (Cody Zahler Pass from Quin Burick) | LOUISVILLE 24, LA SALLE 35, 2:28
Records: La Salle 6-3, Louisville 5-4
Team Stats
First Downs
Louisville: 10 (6 Rushing, 4 Passing)
La Salle: 28 (17 Rushing, 10 Passing, 1 Penalty)
Total Offense
Louisville: 37 Plays, 227 Yards, 5 Touchdowns (6.1 Yards Per Play)
La Salle: 77 Plays, 508 Yards (6.6 Yards Per Play)
Rushing
Louisville: 23 Carries, 141 Yards, 5 Touchdowns (6.1 Yards Per Rush)
La Salle: 53 Carries, 338 Yards (6.4 Yards Per Rush)
Passing
Louisville: 7 of 14 for 86 Yards, 3 Interceptions
La Salle: 15 of 24 for 170 Yards
Fumbles/Lost
Louisville: 0/0
La Salle: 2/1
Penalties/Yards
Louisville: 3 for 20 Yards
La Salle: 7 for 47 Yards
3rd Down Conversions
Louisville: 1 fof 5 (20%)
La Salle: 7 of 13 (54%)
4th Down Conversions
Louisville: 1 of 1 (100%)
La Salle: 2 of 3 (67%)
Punt Yards
Louisville: 3 Punts, 107 Yards (35.7 Average)
La Salle: 2 Punts, 70 Yards (35.0 Average)
Kick Return Yards
Louisville: 5 Returns, 108 Yards (21.6 Average)
La Salle: 3 Returns, 29 Yards (9.7 Average)
Punt Return Yards
Louisville: None
La Salle: 2 Returns, 7 Yards (3.5 Average)
Field Goal Attempts
Louisville: 1 of 1 (24 Yards)
La Salle: None
Individual Offensive Stats
Rushing
Louisville
Owen DiMarzio 10 Carries, 132 Yards
Gabe Stoffer 5 Carries, 11 Yards
Cody Zahler 8 Carries, -2 Yards, 2 Touchdowns
La Salle
Avier Carter 16 Carries, 123 Yards, 2 Touchdowns
Colin Wooldridge 10 Carries, 114 Yards, 2 Touchdowns
Garrett Frayley 14 Carries, 76 Yards
Naseer Salaam 10 Carries, 17 Yards
Tommie McBride 1 Carry, 0 Yards
Michael Bayer 1 Carry, 5 Yards
Jordan Lowe 1 Carry, 3 Yards
Passing
Louisville
Gabe Stoffer 5 of 8 for 55 Yards, 2 Interceptions
Cody Zahler 2 of 6 for 31 Yards, 1 Interception
La Salle
Avier Carter 15 of 24 for 170 Yards
Receiving
Louisville
Jake Baker 2 Catches, 31 Yards
Quin Burick 2 Catches, 24 Yards
Anderson Kandel 1 Catch, 16 Yards
Owen DiMarzio 1 Catch, 12 Yards
Luke Seaman 1 Catch, 3 Yards
La Salle
Drew Dipzinski 6 Catches, 50 Yards
Tyler Roby 4 Catches, 37 Yards
Naseer Salaam 1 Catch, 31 Yards
Rodney Portis 1 Catch, 30 Yards
Taron Lester 1 Catch, 12 Yards
Hunter Ogdan 1 Catch, 6 Yards
Garrett Frayley 1 Catch, 4 Yards
Kick Returns
Louisville
Luke Seaman 5 Returns, 108 Yards, 28 Long
La Salle
K’Mahri Price 1 Return, 17 Yards
Zion Maddox 1 Return, 7 Yards
Naseer Salaam 1 Return, 1 Yard
Punt Returns
Louisville
None
La Salle
Jack McLaughlin 2 Returns, 7 Yards, 7 Long (3.5 Average)
Punts
Louisville
Hayden Reynolds 3 Punts, 107 Yards, 46 Long, Inside 20
La Salle
Avier Carter 2 Punts, 70 Yards, 38 Long (35.0 Average)
Individual Defensive Stats
La Salle
| # | Player | TotTk | Solo | Sack | TFL | Int | BrUp | QBH | FF | FR |
| 21 | C.Wooldridge | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | J.Hall | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | N.Isaacs | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | C.Moore | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Z.Maddox | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | S.Jones | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 | M.Thaler | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | R.Portis | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | K.Price | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | J.Dixon | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 | D.Spraggs | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | T.Lester | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | N.Salaam | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | D.Itodo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | H.Neff | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | J.Presswood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 40 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Louisville
| # | Player | TotTk | Solo | Sack | TFL | Int | BrUp | QBH | FF | FR |
| 7 | C.Dougherty | 13 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | C.Kortis | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | L.Seaman | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | A.Kandel | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | D.Wilson | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 | J.Baker | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | X.Berdella | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 54 | T.Burick | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | G.Stoffer | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | C.Norris | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | O.DiMarzio | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Z.McCrobie | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 99 | J.Beard | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | O.Wilson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | M.Mathle | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | B.Johnson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | L.Neff | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | D.Collier | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 57 | M.Murari | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 66 | E.Kelly | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 | A.Norris | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 91 | 33 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Note: Defensive stats provided by La Salle’s statistician
