Louisville JV Clips Aviators 31-8 – JV Football
Louisville 31, Alliance 8
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The Louisville Leopards JV Football Team used a balanced offensive attack and a suffocating defense to defeat the visiting Alliance Aviators 31-8 Saturday morning at Louisville Leopards Stadium. With the victory, Louisville JV improves to 2-0 on the young season.
Zahler Interception Leads to Early Strike to Grimm
On the game’s opening possession, Cody Zahler intercepted a fourth down pass at the Louisville 29 and returned it to midfield. Zahler then connected with Logan Galbraith for a 25-yard gain over the middle before rolling right and threading a 23-yard touchdown pass to Caison Grimm on 3rd-and-8. That strike put Louisville up 7-0 late in the first quarter.
Rush and Gomez Record Takeaways for Leopard Defense
The Leopards defense came up with another big play to end the Aviators’ next scoring threat. Treven Wilkes ripped off a 40 yard run to the left to put Alliance deep into Louisville territory.
On fourth-and-goal from the 6, Ryan Rush leapt and extended to make a fingertip interception in the end zone and returned it to the Louisville 42, keeping the Aviators scoreless and flipping field position back in the Leopards’ favor.
Alliance fumbled an exchange in the backfield on the first play of their next possession. Parker Gomez recovered it for Louisville on the Aviator 28 giving the Leopards prime field position.
Both Defenses Slam the Door
The Leopards had a holding penalty back them up into a 2nd-and-22 and back-to-back 10 yard runs by Zahler set Louisville up with a 4th-and-2 from the 3-yard line. The ensuing snap failed to reach the quarterback and Jackson Yost fell on it for the Aviators on the 4-yard line.
Alliance moved the chains on the next play, but back-to-back stops in the backfield by Caden Kortis and Drake Wilson pushed the Aviators back into a 3rd-and-18. Two plays later, the punt was partially blocked by Caden Thorn and was downed at the Alliance 48.
Zahler found Grimm wide open for a 40-yard completion on the next play to set up Louisville with goal-to-goal. However, the Leopards were not able to capitalize as Alliance’s Amir Burt delivered a big hit on a pass completion that went for a 3 yard loss and a holding penalty dropped Louisville into 4th-and-goal from the 21. Zahler was sacked by Dillon Stephenson and Yost on 4th-and-goal.
On the next possession, Dominic Collier‘s pass breakup on 3rd-and-5 forced a three-and-out and the Aviators punted the ball all the way to the Leopards 20.
Wilson and Neff Find End Zone on Both Sides of Break
Zahler orchestrated a lightning-quick 80-yard drive in just 1:20 of game time. He rushed four times for 55 yards, including a 28-yard scamper to set up his 11-yard touchdown pass to Wilson with 16 seconds left in the half. That score gave Louisville a commanding 14-0 lead at the break.
The Leopards “double-dipped” to open the second half, needing only four plays to travel 65 yards. Lucas Neff broke free around the right side for a 39-yard touchdown run, extending the lead to 21-0.
Greathouse and Hann Interceptions Setup Leopards
Louisville’s defense stayed opportunistic, as Jonathan Greathouse intercepted a deep pass on Alliance’s next possession. The Leopards converted the takeaway into points when Zahler capped off a 70-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown scramble to make it 28-0 with just over a minute left in the third quarter. Kortis ran for a pair of first downs and Zahler found Galbraith on 3rd-and-11 for a 32-yard reception to key the drive.
Less than a minute later, Stephen Hann picked off another Alliance pass and returned it deep into Aviator territory, setting up Ryker Youngen’s 32-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. The kick extended the lead to 31-0 and triggered the 30-point mercy rule running clock.
Allen Breaks Shutout in Final Seconds
The Aviators managed to avoid the shutout on their final play, marching 70 yards on 12 plays against the running clock. Running back Marquell Williams ran the ball 8 times on the drive for 58 yards and 3 first downs including a 10-yard run on 4th-and-4 from midfield. At one point, Alliance handed the ball off to Williams seven straight times.
Quarterback Dylan Allen finished off the final 16 yards of the drive with three straight runs including a 10 yard run on 3rd-and-6 to the Louisville 2 and a touchdown on the next play with three seconds remaining. Allen then hit Andrew Pennington on the conversion to set the final score at 31-8.
Zahler, Leopards Offense Pile Up 329 Yards
Zahler led the offense, completing 10-of-20 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 89 yards and another score. Neff added 41 yards on the ground, while Grimm (2 Catches, 63 yards), Galbraith (2 Catches, 57 yards), and Wilson (4 Catches, 50 yards) headlined a balanced receiving corps.
Louisville finished with 329 yards of total offense (159 rushing, 170 passing) and scored on five of their 10 possessions. The Leopards defense forced four turnovers and held the Aviators scoreless until the game’s final play from scrimmage.
UP NEXT: The Leopards JV will next host the Marlington Dukes on Saturday, September 13. Game time is set for 10:00 AM from Louisville Leopards Stadium.
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Alliance at Louisville JV Football Scoring Summary
LEOPARDS 31, AVIATORS 8
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Alliance 0-0-0-8–08
Louisville 7-7-14-3–31
1st Quarter
LOUISVILLE – Caison Grimm 23 Yard Pass from Cody Zahler (Ryker Youngen Kick) | LHS 7, AHS 0, 3:20
4 Plays, 50 Yards, 1:28
2nd Quarter
LOUISVILLE – Drake Wilson 11 Yard Pass from Cody Zahler (Ryker Youngen Kick) | LHS 14, AHS 0, 0:16
10 Plays, 80 Yards, 1:20
3rd Quarter
LOUISVILLE – Lucas Neff 39 Yard Run (Ryker Youngen Kick) | LHS 21, AHS 0, 9:00
4 Plays, 65 Yards, 1:00
LOUISVILLE – Cody Zahler 14 Yard Run (Ryker Youngen Kick) | LHS 28, AHS 0, 1:02
10 Plays, 70 Yards, 5:13
4th Quarter
LOUISVILLE – Ryker Youngen 32 Yard Field Goal | LHS 31, AHS 0, 8:23
3 Plays, 16 Yards, 1:11
Records: Louisville 2-0
