Louisville Leopards at Lake Blue Streaks 1989 Football Highlights
Louisville 12, Lake 6, 2OT
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The visiting Louisville Leopards produced two miracles to stun the host Lake Blue Streaks 12-6 in Double Overtime back on October 6, 1989.
The first miracle came with just 15 seconds remaining in regulation. The Leopards Joe Greco launched a prayer that tipped off a Blue Streaks defender and into the arms of Mark Sanders for a 64 yard game-tying touchdown. Unfortunately for Louisville, the extra point missed its target leaving the game tied at 6-6 and sending the game into overtime.
In overtime, the Leopards missed a 25 yard field goal attempt leaving the door open for the Blue Streaks to win the game. However, on the first play of Lake’s possession, Louisville recovered a fumble to send the game into double overtime.
The Blue Streaks had possession first in the second overtime, but David Barwick picked off a pass near the goal line for the Leopards. On offense, Louisville netted negative 7 yards forcing them into a 4th-and-17 from the 27 yard line.
That’s when the next miracle occurred. Rob Arnold dropped back to pass and threw a desperation pass toward Sanders. The ball tipped off a Lake defender and into the Sanders who ran in for the game-winning touchdown. Sanders would finished with 3 catches for 127 yards on the freezing cold night as the Leopards celebrated a seemingly improbable victory.
Amazingly, the Blue Streaks had shutout opponents in 23 straight quarters before Sanders caught the fourth quarter Hail Mary. Lake’s lone touchdown came via Chris Meffert who scored from a yard out with 2:26 left in the opening period. His score was setup by a Brian Collins fumble recovery. Chris Spardy led the Streaks with 89 yards rushing as they fell to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the Federal League.
The Leopards were led on the ground by Bucky Hall who rushed the ball 12 times for 49 yards. Louisville improved to 3-6 overall and 2-4 in League play.
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Scoring Summary
TEAM 1-2-3-4-OT-OT2-TOTAL
Louisville 0-0-0-6-0-6–12
Lake 6-0-0-0-0-0–06
1st Quarter
LAKE – Chris Meffert 1 Yard Run (Kick Failed), 0-6
2nd Quarter
NO SCORING
3rd Quarter
NO SCORING
4th Quarter
LOUISVILLE – Mark Sanders 64 Yard Pass from Joe Greco (Kick Failed), 6-6
Overtime
NO SCORING
Double Overtime
LOUISVILLE – Mark Sanders 27 Yard Pass from Rob Arnold (No PAT Attempted), 12-6
Records: Louisville 3-6, 2-4; Lake (6-3, 4-2)