Louisville Leopards (9-0, 6-0) at Canton South Wildcats (6-3, 3-3)

SPREAD: Louisville By 20 (According to Stark County Pick’em), Louisville By 22 (According to Drew Pasteur’s Fantastic 50)

WHEN: Friday, November 1 at 7:00 PM

WHERE: Clyde Brechbuhler Stadium | Click Here for Directions

RADIO: None

TV: None

HIGHLIGHTS: Will be available following the game late Friday night or early Saturday morning right here on louisvilleleopards.org

SERIES

ALL-TIME SERIES: Louisville holds a 49-18-3 all-time record over Canton South including a 23-10-1 record at Canton South. VIEW FULL ALL-TIME SERIES

LAST MEETING: Canton South won 41-20 on October 26, 2012 at Louisville Leopards Stadium.

LAST MEETING AT CANTON SOUTH: Louisville defeated Canton South 27-6 on October 28, 2011.

LAST CANTON SOUTH WIN AT HOME: The Wildcats last defeated the Leopards at home 16-14 on October 22, 1999.

Schedules

PREVIEW

Its Rivalry Week! You can throw out all the records, all the stats, and all the history when Canton South and Louisville meet up Friday. Both teams are playing for something in Week 10. The Wildcats still have an outside chance at making the playoffs and beating the Leopards in back-to-back years for the first time since they won three straight in the series from 1985-87. Louisville is also playing for a lot in Week 10. A win would give them their 18th undefeated regular season in team history, an outright NBC Championship, and an ever important home playoff game. You won’t want to miss the 71st meeting between Louisville and Canton South Friday night.

1993 Louisville Leopards at Canton South Wildcats Football Highlights

LEOPARDS

OFFENSE: Louisville’s offense is averaging 322 yards (180 rushing, 142 passing) and 29.8 points per contest this year. If starting Quarterback Connor Zwick is unable to play Friday, the Leopards will be without 64% of their offense yards this season. Zwick leads the team in both passing (82 of 126 for 1164 yards and 13 touchdowns) and rushing (158 carries, 700 yards, 7 touchdowns). Backup QB Joe Crank came into the game at Alliance last week and made 2 huge throws to lead Louisville to victory. Crank is 7 of 8 (88%) passing this season for 103 yards. No matter who is playing Quarterback for the Leopards they will have plenty of targets in the receiving game that includes Andy Minster (32 catches, 397 yards, 4 touchdowns), Alex Hollifield (17 catches, 272 yards, 5 touchdowns), Bryce Mathie (17 catches, 249 yards, 3 touchdowns), and Kyle Bast (15 catches, 291 yards, 2 touchdowns). Expect Louisville runningbacks Walter Schrock (133 carries, 608 yards, 6 touchdowns) and Dakota James (37 carries, 147 yards, 4 touchdowns) to have a big game in the backfield as well.

DEFENSE: The Leopards defense is giving up 221 yards (116 rushing, 106 passing) and 13.4 points per game this season. Dylan Kline has been a menace all year for opponents on the Louisville defensive line and has registered 42.5 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks, and has both forced & recovered a fumble. Cory Neff (35 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery) and Cole McElroy (19 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery) have also played key roles up front. The Leopards linebacking core is led by Zach Shea (44 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 interception), Josh Brown (42.5 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, 1 forced fumble), and Frankie Falcone (16.5 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble). Garrett Yoder made the game-clinching interception on the 2 yard line last week at Alliance. Yoder has amassed team-highs of 46 tackles, 3 forced fumbles, and 6 passes broken up. The Louisville secondary also includes Stephen Kerzan (30 tackles), Lewis Adkins (23.5 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 1 forced fumble), AJ Minster (18 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 3 fumble recoveries, 2 interceptions, 5 passes broken up), and Bryce Mathie (14 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception).

SPECIAL TEAMS: Jordan Hughes proved that he could be clutch last week at Alliance when he booted through the game-deciding 20 yard field goal with 50 seconds remaining. Hughes has converted on 10 of 14 field goals this season and 30 of 33 extra points. Connor Zwick has been the teams main punter all season averaging 37.1 yards on 30 punts. If he is unable to go look for Jake Adams to take over the role. Adams, who is also the third string quarterback, averaged 32.5 yards on 2 punts against the Aviators last week. Andy Minster and Garrett Yoder have taken the majority of the returns in the return game this season. Minster is averaging 29.3 yards on 7 kick returns and 9.9 yards on 10 punt returns. His 25 yard punt return late in the game at Alliance put Louisville in great position to drive down for the winning score. Yoder has averaged 24.2 yards on 6 kick returns and 8.5 yards on 17 punt returns as well.

1992 Louisville Leopards at Canton South Wildcats Football Highlights

WILDCATS

OFFENSE: Canton South is averaging 281 yards (121 Rushing, 160 Passing) and 25.8 points per game this season. Quarterback Josh Lyon leads the Wildcats in passing yards, rushing yards, & touchdowns. Lyon has completed 104 of 179 (58%) passes this season for 1433 yards and 10 touchdowns against 6 interceptions. He has also ran the ball 137 times for 514 yards and 7 touchdowns. Lyon’s favorite targets in the passing game include DJ Wilson (29 catches, 527 yards, 7 touchdowns), Mark Nicoletti (30 catches, 451 yards, 1 touchdown), Kahlil Coleman (10 catches, 120 yards, 1 touchdown), and Alec Eller (13 catches, 108 yards). Both David Bates and Ian Sheridan have each caught a touchdown pass this season as well. Coleman (61 carries, 262 yards, 4 touchdowns), Quantico Moore (34 carries, 166 yards, 1 touchdown), and Wilson (6 carries, 126 yards, 4 touchdowns) have all made their mark in the Canton South rushing attack.

DEFENSE: The Wildcats defense has surrendered 344 yards (222 rushing, 122 passing) and 24 points per contest, while also forcing 17 turnovers (11 interceptions, 6 fumble recoveries) this season. Inside Linebacker Jake Newell has recorded 4 of those takeaways (2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries), leads the team in tackles with 87, and has recorded 5 tackles for losses. Newell leads a linebacking core that also includes Jake Trubisky (43 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack), Mark Nicoletti (38 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 11 hurries, 2 force fumbles), and Kole Ickes (20 tackles). The Canton South secondary has been responsible for 10 takeaways this year. This includes David Bates (68 tackles, 3 interceptions), DJ Wilson (63 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions), Ian Sheridan (50 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception), Matt Shaffer (25 tackles, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery), Josh Lyon (12 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack), and John May (2 sacks). Both of Shaffer’s takeaways resulted in points as he returned a 95 yard interception against West Branch and recovered a fumble in the endzone against Minerva. Sheridan recorded a 65 yard pick six against West Branch. The Wildcats defensive line is led by Jake Taylor who has recorded a team leading 3 sacks, 38 total tackles, 3 tackles for losses, forced 2 fumbles, and recovered a fumble. He has been aided up front by Cody Murphy (19 tackles, 1 tackle for loss), Andrew Scarpino (16 tackles, 2 sacks), and Tristian Larsen (14 tackles, 7 tackles for losses, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble).

SPECIAL TEAMS: Kicker Tim Schaar has made 13 out of 17 extra point attempts, but has yet to attempt a field goal this season. He is also averaging 38.3 yards on 42 kickoffs this season. Quarterback Josh Lyon has also taken the role a the Wildcats punter averaging 34.8 yards on 23 punts this season, his longest punt was 57 yards, and he has pinned opponents inside the 20 five times. Ian Sheridan and DJ Wilson have taken the majority of Canton South’s returns this season. Sheridan is averaging 25.2 yards on 10 kick returns and 7.5 yards on 2 punt returns. Sheridan also took a kick back 85 yards to the house against West Branch.  Wilson has averaged 40.0 yards on 7 kick returns and 9.0 yards on 7 punt returns. Wilson found the endzone twice against JFK on kick returns of 88 and 86 yards. Quantico Moore has also made an impact in the kick return game by averaging 25.3 yards per return.