Leopards Score 49 Unanswered to Finish Perfect in NBC
Louisville 56, Canton South 20
The Louisville Leopards rallied from a first half deficit by scoring 49 unanswered points en rout to a 56-20 victory over the visiting Canton South Wildcats Friday Night at Louisville Leopards Stadium. With the victory, Louisville clinches the NBC Outright finishing 9-1 overall and 7-0 in conference play. They will host the Poland Seminary Bulldogs in the DIII, Region 7 Quarterfinals next Friday.
Runningback Walter Schrock led the Leopards by finishing with 206 yards on 10 carries and 4 touchdowns. He scored on touchdown runs of 2, 61, 20, and 2. Schrock’s final three touchdowns came in a span of 5:26 in the third quarter as Louisville turned a 28-20 halftime lead into a 56-20 blowout heading into the fourth.
An equally, if not more impressive span of three touchdowns came just before halftime. Trailing 20-7, Quarterback Connor Zwick led Louisville on scoring drives of 59, 37, and 56 in the final 3:55 of the second quarter. Zwick scampered 20 yards on the ground for the first score. Then he went to the air for a 21 yard touchdown strike to Kyle Woost and also found Ryan Lautner in the endzone from 5 yards away with just 18 seconds remaining.
Canton South spooked Louisville early as Runningback Kahlil Coleman ran for 121 yards on 18 carries and 2 touchdowns in a quarter and a half. Coleman had to leave the game after suffering a season-ending injury while running to the Leopards 1 yard line. John Haslam finished what Coleman started when he scored on a Quarterback sneak two players later. That put Canton South ahead 20-7 with 5:24 left in the first half.
With Coleman out, the Wildcats were not the same team. They managed to gain just 64 yards on 29 plays the rest of the way. Daichi Castles, Tanner Brahler, and Casey Nau all recovered fumbles for the Louisville Defense and Castles, Jake Mathie, and Stephen Kerzan were participants in jarring them loose. The Leopards defense finished the regular season without giving up a single point in the third quarter as they outscored opponents 105-0.
Brock Haren also scored on a 4 yard touchdown run with 3:25 left in the third quarter. Austin Terra booted through the extra point making him a perfect 8 for 8 on the night which is unofficially a school record. His last PAT kick was the Leopards 425th point of the season, leaving them just 2 points shy of the team record (427 by the 1965 team).
With the victory, Louisville has now taken 7 out of their last 8 meetings with Canton South and now lead the all-time series 51-18-3. The Leopards have now won 14 straight NBC games as they claimed their 9th Outright NBC Title (12th overall).
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next host the Poland Seminary Bulldogs in the DIII, Region 7 Quarterfinals on Friday, November 7, 2014 at 7:30 PM.
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