Louisville Freshman Dominant in 24-0 Shutout of Hoover – Freshman Football
Louisville 24, North Canton Hoover 0
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The Louisville Leopards Freshman Football Team scored three passing touchdowns and kept North Canton Hoover out of the end zone during a 24-0 shutout of the visiting Vikings Thursday evening at Louisville Leopards Stadium.
Hunter Watson opened the scoring with a halfback touchdown pass to Logan Barrett before Jayden Schloneger accounted for Louisville’s final three touchdowns. The Leopard defense forced a turnover, recorded seven tackles for loss and stopped Hoover on a pair of second-half goal-to-go possessions.
Louisville has now won three consecutive games to improve to 3-2. The same group finished 1-7 as eighth graders last season, but has already tripled that win total through its first five games as freshmen.
Watson-to-Barrett Trick Play Opens Scoring
Louisville went three-and-out on its opening possession, but the Leopard defense quickly returned the football to the offense.
William Geis dropped a Hoover runner for a 4-yard loss on second-and-1 before combining with Gino Patron to make a stop at the line of scrimmage on third down. The Vikings were forced to punt, and Barrett returned the kick 28 yards to the Hoover 30.
Two plays later, Louisville reached into its bag of tricks. Watson took a handoff, pulled up behind the line of scrimmage and delivered a pass to Barrett for a 28-yard touchdown. Hoover’s #17 broke up the conversion pass, leaving the Leopards with a 6-0 advantage at the 4:48 mark of the first quarter.
Jaycek Ross set back Hoover’s next possession by blowing up a running play for a 3-yard loss. The Vikings recovered and moved the chains once, but a bad exchange in the backfield resulted in a fumble at the Hoover 47. Quintin Smith recovered the loose football for Louisville.
Watson followed with a first-down run before Schloneger connected with Carter Mihelic down the right sideline. Mihelic made a fingertip catch for a 30-yard gain, moving the Leopards inside the Hoover 10.
Schloneger ran a quarterback draw up the middle for a 7-yard touchdown on the following play. The conversion pass fell incomplete, but Louisville had expanded its lead to 12-0 with 1:30 remaining in the opening quarter.
Uphold Extends Louisville’s Lead
The Leopard defense again forced Hoover backward on its next possession. Patron recorded a tackle for loss before Geis sacked the quarterback for a 6-yard loss, forcing the Vikings to punt on fourth-and-15.
Louisville then marched 42 yards in six plays to claim an 18-0 advantage. Schloneger found Bryan Hanze along the right sideline for a 7-yard completion on third-and-5, moving the football to the Hoover 30. Watson followed with another first-down run to the 17.
On the next play, Schloneger flicked a short forward pass to Brandon Uphold in the backfield. Uphold found a seam through the left side of the defense and raced 17 yards to the end zone. Hoover’s #45 and #7 stopped the ensuing conversion run for a loss, keeping the score at 18-0 with 6:16 remaining before halftime.
Hoover’s #22 carried the Vikings into Louisville territory on the following series, picking up two first downs and converting a fourth-and-3 at the Leopard 43. Wyatt Ritenour halted the drive by bringing down Hoover’s scrambling quarterback for a 2-yard loss on third-and-6. A fourth-down pass was then dropped, turning the football over to Louisville.
The Leopards punted on their final full possession of the half, and Hoover took a knee to send Louisville into the locker room with an 18-0 advantage.
Swonger Wins Fourth-Down Jump Ball
Jax Haugen reset the tone out of the locker room by dropping Hoover’s #22 for a 3-yard loss on third-and-3 to force a punt on their opening second half possession.
Louisville appeared to score immediately when Schloneger found Troy Simpson for a 64-yard touchdown pass, but an illegal-man-downfield penalty erased the play.
The penalty did not prevent the Leopards from eventually reaching the end zone. Schloneger completed a 6-yard pass to Barrett along the right sideline to convert a third-and-5. He then connected with Barrett over the middle, and the receiver turned the play into a 38-yard gain to the Hoover 15.
Louisville faced fourth-and-8 three plays later. Schloneger looked toward the left corner of the end zone and gave Eden Swonger an opportunity to make a play. Swonger went up for the football and won the jump ball for a 13-yard touchdown.
The conversion pass fell incomplete, but the 8-play, 64-yard drive gave Louisville a 24-0 lead with 3:58 remaining in the third quarter.
Leopards Preserve the Shutout with Goal Line Stands
Hoover responded by using direct snaps to #5 and runs by #22 to move into Louisville territory. Haugen recorded his second tackle for loss by dropping #5 for a 3-yard loss at the Leopard 22.
The Vikings recovered with a 13-yard completion from #16 to #6 near the left sideline, setting up a goal-to-go situation. Hoover eventually faced fourth-and-goal from the 2, where #5 threw toward the left side of the end zone. Barrett broke up the pass to preserve the shutout and return possession to Louisville.
Pinned at its own 2, Louisville immediately created breathing room when Damon Gail broke loose for a 23-yard run. Gail later gained 3 yards on third-and-2 to extend the drive before a holding penalty eventually forced the Leopards to punt.
Hoover made one final bid to break up the shutout. Koen Beckett tackled the running back while he was receiving a shotgun handoff for a 3-yard loss, but #16 responded by finding #6 down the left sideline for a 24-yard completion on third-and-9 with just 1:06 remaining.
Two plays later, #16 completed a pass to #1 in the right flat, and the receiver turned it into a 23-yard gain to the Louisville 9. A short completion and two incompletions left Hoover facing fourth-and-goal from the 6.
The quarterback rolled to his right and attempted to run for the end zone, but Hanze brought him down at the 4 with four seconds remaining. Louisville took over and kneeled out the remaining time to complete the shutout.
By the Numbers
Louisville finished with 240 yards of total offense, gaining 150 through the air and 90 on the ground. The Leopards completed 9 of 14 passes for three touchdowns and did not commit a turnover.
Schloneger completed 8 of 13 passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns. He also carried four times for 12 yards and scored on his 7-yard quarterback draw. Watson rushed 11 times for a team-high 37 yards and completed his only pass attempt for the 28-yard touchdown to Barrett.
Barrett led the receiving corps with three catches for 72 yards and a touchdown. He also returned a punt 28 yards and broke up a fourth-down pass in the end zone. Mihelic added a 30-yard reception, while Uphold and Swonger each caught touchdown passes.
Gail contributed 35 yards on four carries, including his 23-yard run away from Louisville’s own goal line.
The Leopard defense limited Hoover to 151 total yards, including 63 yards on 33 rushing attempts. Geis led Louisville with a tackle for a loss and a sack, Haugen also had two tackles for loss, while Ross, Patron, Ritenour and Beckett each added a tackle for loss. Smith supplied the game’s only takeaway with his first-quarter fumble recovery.
Louisville’s third consecutive victory improved its record to 3-2, while North Canton Hoover fell to 0-4.
UP NEXT: The Freshman Leopards will next travel to take on the Lake Blue Streaks on Thursday, September 24. Game time is set for 6:00 PM from Blue Steaks Stadium.
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Hoover at Louisville Freshman Football Scoring Summary
LEOPARDS 24, VIKINGS 0
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Hoover 0-0-0-0–00
Louisville 12-6-6-0–24
1st Quarter
LOUISVILLE – Logan Barrett 28-Yard Pass from Hunter Watson (Pass Failed) | LHS 6, NCHHS 0, 4:48
2 Plays, 30 Yards, 0:44
LOUISVILLE – Jayden Schloenger 7-Yard Run (Pass Failed) | LHS 12, NCHHS 0, 1:30
6 Plays, 47 Yards, 1:26
2nd Quarter
LOUISVILLE – Brandon Uphold 17-Yard Pass from Jayden Schloneger (Run Failed). LHS 18, NCHHS 0, 6:16
6 Plays, 42 Yards, 2:39
3rd Quarter
LOUISVILLE – Eden Swonger 13-Yard Pass from Jayden Schloneger (Pass Failed) | LHS 24, NCHHS 0, 3:58
8 Plays, 64 Yards, 2:50
4th Quarter
NO SCORING
Records: Louisville 3-2, Hoover 0-4
Team Stats
Total Offense
Louisville: 35 Plays, 240 Yards, 4 Touchdowns (6.9 Yards Per Play)
Hoover: 48 Plays, 151 Yards (3.1 Yards Per Play)
Rushing
Louisville: 21 Carries, 90 Yards, 1 Touchdown (4.3 Average)
Hoover: 33 Carries, 63 Yards (1.9 Average)
Passing
Louisville: 9 of 14 for 150 Yards, 3 Touchdowns
Hoover: 8 of 15 for 88 Yards
First Downs
Louisville: 8 (4 Rushing, 4 Passing)
Hoover: 9 (5 Rushing, 4 Passing)
Turnovers
Louisville: 0
Hoover: 1 (1 Fumble)
Sacks
Louisville: 1 Sack for 6 Yards
Hoover: None
Punt Yards
Louisville: 3 Punts, 69 Yards (23.0 Average)
Hoover: 3 Punts, 60 Yards (20.0 Average)
Penalties
Louisville: 2 Penalties, 15 Yards
Hoover: None
Individual Stats
Rushing
Louisville
Hunter Watson 11 Carries, 37 Yards
Damon Gail 4 Carries, 35 Yards
Jayden Schloneger 4 Carries, 12 Yards, 1 Touchdown
Conner Longwell 2 Carries, 6 Yards
Hoover
#22 15 Carries, 44 Yards
#5 7 Carries, 26 Yards
#11 1 Carry, 9 Yards
#23 4 Carries, 3 Yards
#6 1 Carry, -4 Yards
#16 5 Carries, -15 Yards
Passing
Louisville
Jayden Schloneger 8 of 13 for 122 Yards, 2 Touchdowns
Hunter Watson 1 of 1 for 28 Yards, 1 Touchdown
Hoover
#16 8 of 14 for 88 Yards
#5 0 of 1 for 0 Yards
Receiving
Louisville
Logan Barrett 3 Catches, 72 Yards, 1 Touchdown
Carter Mihelic 1 Catch, 30 Yards
Brandon Uphold 1 Catch, 17 Yards, 1 Touchdown
Eden Swonger 1 Catch, 13 Yards, 1 Touchdown
Bryan Hanze 1 Catch, 7 Yards
Cohen Lykins 1 Catch, 7 Yards
Hunter Watson 1 Catch, 4 Yards
Hoover
#6 4 Catches, 50 Yards
#1 3 Catches, 33 Yards
#22 1 Catch, 5 Yards
Punt Returns
Louisville
Logan Barrett 1 Punt Return, 28 Yards
Hoover
None
Punts
Louisville
Jayden Schloneger 3 Punts, 69 Yards, 29 Long (23.0 Average)
Hoover
#1 3 Punts, 60 Yards, 25 Long (20.0 Average)
Tackles for Loss
Louisville
Jax Haugen 2 Tackles for Loss
William Geis 1 Tackle for Loss
Jaycek Ross 1 Tackle for Loss
Gino Patron 1 Tackle for Loss
Wyatt Ritenour 1 Tackle for Loss
Koen Beckett 1 Tackle for Loss
Hoover
#33 1 Tackle for Loss
Sacks
Louisville
William Geis 1 Sack for 6 Yards
Hoover
None
Interceptions
Louisville
None
Hoover
None
Fumbles
Louisville
None
Hoover
#16 1 Fumble, 1 Lost
Fumble Recoveries
Louisville
Quintin Smith 1 Fumble Recovery
Hoover
None
Forced Fumbles
Louisville
None
Hoover
None
Pass Breakups
Louisville
Logan Barrett 1 Pass Breakup
Hoover
None
Some defensive statistics are unofficial and likely incomplete, just based on game notes from the author.
