JV Football Falls Victim to Dukes 4th Quarter Rally
Marlington 28, Louisville 26
The Louisville Leopards JV Football team fell to the visiting Marlington Dukes 28-26 Saturday Morning at Louisville Leopards Stadium. With the loss, Louisville drops to 1-5 overall and 1-3 against NBC foes.
Quarterback Jared Mathie ran for a pair of touchdowns and hit Bryce Zuppe for a 51 yard touchdown pass to lead the Leopards. Mathie and Zuppe connected twice on Louisville’s opening drive. The first for a 24 yard gain to convert a 3rd-and-21. Then again for a 28 yard gain to set the Leopards up on the Dukes 10. Mathie ran it in on the next play to give Louisville the early lead. He then connected with Dominic Mongiardo in the back right corner of the endzone for the two-pointer conversion to make it 8-0.
The Leopards dominated the first half minus one hiccup. Marlington Defensive Back Ryan Cooley intercepted a Louisville pass and took it 48 yards to the house. to make it 8-6 with 3:59 left in the first. The Leopards extended their lead to 14-6 just 90 seconds later on the Mathie to Zuppe bomb.
Louisville recorded their only takeaway of the game when Dillon Rebuck stripped the Dukes ball carrier and Cam Lingle fell on it at the Marlington 30 with 1:02 left before halftime. Mathie hit runningback BJ Singer for a 29 yard screen pass on next play and then ran it in himself from a yard out after that. The Leopards were riding high into the break up 20-6.
Marlington and Louisville traded scores in the third quarter. Dukes Runningback Nolan Domer scored on the ground from 4 yards out to give Marlington to within 20-12. A 30 yard connection from James Aebi-Manion to Tight End David West setup the Dukes 1st-and-Goal just 3 plays before.
The Leopards re-extended their lead to two scores on Quarterback Trent Degenhard’s 2 yard run with 48 seconds left in the third quarter. A 45 yard screen pass from Degenhard to Runningback Dylan Walczak came just a play before to put Louisville in prime position. The Leopards carried their 26-12 lead into the fourth quarter.
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The cold blooded Dukes scored twice in the fourth quarter using two very different drives to take the game. Marlington mounted a 16 play, 84 yard drive that ended with Runningback Anthony Sabbatino blasting in on 4th-and-Goal from the Louisville 1. Sabbatino also added the conversion run to make it 26-20 with 5:09 left in the game.
After a defensive stop, the Dukes scored again on a 1 play drive. Wide Receiver Ethan Lilley ran a sweep to the left, found a seam, and took it 83 yards to paydirt to knot the game at 26-26. Aebi-Manion pounded in on the conversion run to put Marlington ahead 28-26 with 2:43 left in the game.
On the ensuing drive, the Leopards reached the Dukes 41 before turning it over on downs. Marlington ran the clock out after that.
UP NEXT: The JV Leopards will next travel to West Branch to take on the Warriors on Saturday, October 8 at 10:00 AM.
Scoring Summary
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Marlington 6-0-6-16–28
Louisville 14-6-6-0–26
1st Quarter
Louisville – Jared Mathie 10 Yard Run (Dominic Mongiardo Pass from Jared Mathie) | LHS 8, MHS 0, 6:22
Marlington – Ryan Cooley 48 Yard Interception Return (Run Failed) | LHS 8, MHS 6, 3:59
Louisville – Bryce Zuppe 51 Yard Pass from Jared Mathie (Run Failed) | LHS 14, MHS 6, 2:29
2nd Quarter
Louisville – Jared Mathie 1 Yard Run (Pass Failed) | LHS 20, MHS 6, 0:25
3rd Quarter
Marlington – Nolan Domer 4 Yard Run (Run Failed) | LHS 20, MHS 12, 2:55
Louisville – Trent Degenhard 2 Yard Run (Pass Failed) | LHS 26, MHS 12, 0:48
4th Quarter
Marlington – Anthony Sabbatino 1 Yard Run (Anthony Sabbatino Run) | LHS 26, MHS 20, 5:09
Marlington – Ethan Lilley 83 Yard Run (James Aebi-Manion Run) | LHS 26, MHS 28, 2:43
Records: Louisville 1-5, 1-3