Louisville Leopards at Carrollton Warriors 2014 Football Preview

 Louisville Leopards (3-1, 1-0) at Carrollton Warriors (4-0, 1-0)

SPREAD: Louisville By 10 (According to Fantastic 50)

WHEN: Friday, September 26 at 7:00 PM

WHERE: Community Field – 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 leads the all-time series 31-5-2, which includes a 13-3-2 record at Carrollton.

VIEW FULL ALL-TIME SERIES

LAST MEETING: The Leopards shutout the Warriors 20-0 back on September 27, 2013. This was Louisville’s first shutout since 2010.

View 2013 Video Highlights & Recap

LAST MEETING AT CARROLLTON: The Warriors shutout the Leopards 21-0 back on October 5, 2012. This was the only time Louisville was ever shutout on the road in the NBC.

View 2012 Video Highlights & Recap

Schedules:

PREVIEW

Is it too early to decide the NBC? Likely not as experts are saying that the winner of this game will run the table in the conference. The Warriors come into the game undefeated at 4-0 and will look to power their way to victory. The Leopards come into the contest riding an 8-game conference winning streak and will look to defend their title with plenty of speed. The key to the game might come in the second quarter. Last time the game was played at Community Field, Carrollton outscored Louisville 21-0 in the second quarter. This year the Leopards have outscored opponents 55-0 in that same quarter and 90-0 in the second and third quarters combined.

LEOPARDS

The Leopards Offense is averaging 330 Yards (162 Rushing, 168 Passing) and 32 points per game this season. For those who took the 2014 Leopard TD Pledge and those interested in still taking it, that’s 18 total touchdowns for Louisville this season.

Quarterback Connor Zwick continued to light it up last week with three touchdown passes. Zwick is 48 of 73 passing (65.8%) for 555 yards and 8 touchdowns against 4 interceptions this season. The Leopards Spread Offense has produced 5 Receivers with over 100 yards this season and they include: Kyle Woost (17 Catches, 115 Yards, 2 Touchdowns), Alec Jones (10 Catches, 152 Yards, 5 Touchdowns), Ryan Lautner (9 Catches, 121 Yards, 1 Touchdown), Josh Swanson (6 Catches, 136 Yards, 1 Touchdown), and Tyler Adams (6 Caches, 108 Yards,  2 Touchdowns).

With so many weapons in the passing game its no wonder they don’t throw the ball every down. Well, the reason they don’t is Runningback Walter Schrock who is averaging 8.0 yards per carry. Schrock has rushed the ball 47 times for 374 yards and 4 touchdowns this season. Zwick has also carried the ball 43 times for 244 yards (5.7 average) and scored once on the ground this year. They will both look to run behind the offensive line that includes: Terry Gooch (5’11, 259), Alex Hall (6’6, 244), Jarrod Moran (5’9, 226), Nick Nappi (5’7, 210), and Austin Shaheen (6’0, 217).

The Louisville Defense is surrendering just 183 Yards (96 Rushing, 87 Passing) and only 9 points per contest this season. Hoover is the only team that has broken double digits on the Leopards so far. Linebacker Kyle Ashcraft leads the team in tackles with 27 overall and 14 solo. Other Top Tacklers include defensive backs Stephen Kerzan (17 Tackles, 11 Solo Tackles, 1 Interception, 1 Forced Fumble, 1 Fumble Recovery) and Jake Mathie (17 Tackles, 11 Solo Tackles).

Casey Nau (15.5 Tackles, 3 Tackles for Loss, 1 Sack) has made a big impact for the Leopards this season with 2 Fumble Recoveries including one in the endzone last week at Salem. Daichi Castles (13.5 Tackles, 10 Solo Tackles, 2 Tackles for Loss, 1 Sack, 1 Force Fumble), Dalton Deckerd (13 Tackles, 9 Solo Tackles, 1 Tackle for Loss, 1 Sack), Frank Falcone (11 Tackles, 3 Sacks), Tanner Brahler (7.5 Tackles, 1 Tackle for Loss, 2 Sacks), and Marco Buccasso (5.5 Tackles, 1 Tackle for Loss, 1 Sack) have all made their presence known in opposing backfields this season. Joe Crank is your guy to watch in the secondary as he has made two interceptions on defense for Louisville. Cade Stertzbach has also recovered two fumbles on defense/special teams.

Kicker Austin Terra has scored 19 points for the Leopards this season as he has banged through 16 of 17 extra points and 1 of 3 field goals. In the punting game, Zwick has averaged 31.3 yards per boot with a long of 53 and has placed 4 punts inside the 20. Tyler Adams has emerged as Louisville’s main kick returner averaging 26.3 yards on 3 kick returns this season. Crank has averaged 7.9 yards on 7 punt returns with a long of 18.

WARRIORS

Carrollton is averaging 413 Yards (236 Rushing, 177 Passing) and 41.5 points per game. The Warriors shredded through DIV competition in their first three out of conference games before winning convincingly at winless Canton South last week 41-21.

Despite their schedule, Carrollton did take care of business and is still undefeated until otherwise proven. Quarterback Zade Dietz commands the offensive as he is a threat both passing (38 of 56 for 707 Yards for 5 Touchdowns & 2 Interceptions) and rushing (44 Carries, 228 Yards, 7 Touchdowns). Runningback Tyler Dodd has bulldozed his way through defenses this year rushing the ball 33 Times for 308 Yards and 7 Touchdowns. Dodd did not play in the game against Edison Local, but his offensive line proved they can block no matter whose carrying the ball. Sophomore Tailback Brenton Miller rushed 18 times for 187 yards and 4 touchdowns during Week 2. Highlighting the receiving game is Caleb Pasiuk (15 Catches, 297 Yards, 2 Touchdowns), Adam Shaw (11 Catches, 148 Yards, 2 Touchdowns), and Avery Wilson (6 Catches, 145 Yards, 1 Touchdown).

The Carrollton Defense has allowed 199 Yards (72 Rushing, 126 Passing) and 13 points per contest so far this year. They have also forced 12 Turnovers (7 Interceptions, 5 Fumble Recoveries). Opposing offenses must go through Linebacker Brody Robinson who is the team’s leading tackler, he had 18 Solo Tackles and 13 Assisted Tackles against South last week. Other Warriors making an impact in opponents backfields include Micah Campbell (2 Sacks, 2 Tackles for Loss), Jacob Grubbs (2.5 Sacks), Trenton Leggett (3 Sacks, 1 Interception), and Miller (3 Sacks, 1 Interception). Jacob Knipp (1 Interception, 1 Fumble Recovery), Levi McKinney (1 Fumble Recovery), Pasiuk (1 Interception), Trevor Renz (1 Interception), and Shaw (1 Fumble Recovery) have all recorded takeaways for Carrollton as well.

On Special Teams, Kicker Daniel Leary has made 19 of 24 extra point attempts and also made a 34 yard field goal in the opener at East Liverpool.

NOTE: Carrollton’s defensive stats may be incomplete. Full Statistics were not provided by Carrollton when this Preview was published, all data above has been calculated through research of game articles.