Louisville Leopards at Minerva Lions 1996 Football Highlights
Louisville 38, Minerva 21
Louisville scored the final two touchdowns of the contest to come out on top against host Minerva 38-21 back on November 1, 1996 at Hines Stadium.
With each team at 7-2 coming into the contest, the Leopards and the Lions brought everything to the table in hopes of making it into the playoffs. “It’ll be a long night, but I’m an optimist guy, I think we have a great shot,” Louisville Head Coach Rick Crislip said of their chances.
The Leopards pounced on the Lions first by taking a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Quarterback Matt Gulling connected with Receiver Ryan Reinford from 17 yards out and Tight End Mike Ramsey from 7 yards out for touchdowns through the air. Gulling would finish the evening 5 of 7 for 71 yards passing.
Minerva struck back courtesy of the first of three touchdown runs by Mike Schrader to cut the lead in half at 14-7. However, Louisville’s Scott McKelvey returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a score to extend the Leopard lead back to 14.
Schrader would score again on two second half touchdown runs of one yard to cut the Lion deficit to 24-21. He would finish the evening with 130 yards rushing for Minerva. Schrader’s final touchdown came with 10:12 left in the fourth quarter after the Lions marched 80 yards on 17 plays. He carried the ball 10 times for 61 yards on the drive.
The Leopards only score of the third quarter was a 25 yard Brian Parker field goal, but in the fourth quarter they found the endzone twice. The first came after an 11 play, 47 yard drive when Zak Avdul plowed in from a yard away with 4:20 remaining to give Louisville a double digit advantage.
Leif Erickson’s 22 yard scamper into the endzone with 2:37 left sealed the deal for the Leopards who went up 38-21. Erickson finished as Louisville’s leading workhorse with 17 carries for 126 yards.
“This is a great feeling seeing these people come out and support us like this,” Crislip said of the Blue & White faithful who made the trip out. “This is always a big game. Hopefully, we’ll give them four more (this season).”
Crislip was referring to a playoff run that never happened as Louisville came up short of a playoff birth. Nevertheless, when the Leopards needed to shine brightest they did by downing their archival.
Don’t forget to Subscribe to Our Posts for Free
Scoring Summary
LEOPARDS 38, LIONS 21
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Louisville 14-7-3-14–38
Mineva 0-14-0-7–21
1st Quarter
Louisville – Ryan Reinford 17 Yard Pass from Matt Gulling (Brian Parker Kick), 7-0
Louisville – Mike Ramsey 7 Yard Pass from Matt Gulling (Brian Parker Kick), 14-0
2nd Quarter
Minerva – Mike Schrader 4 Yard Run (DePalmo Kick), 14-7
Louisville – Scott McKelvey 94 Kickoff Return (Brian Parker Kick), 21-7
Minerva – Mike Schrader 1 Yard Run (DePalmo Kick), 21-14
3rd Quarter
Louisville – Brian Parker 25 Yard Field Goal, 24-14
4th Quarter
Minerva – Mike Schrader 1 Yard Run (DePalmo Kick), 24-21
Louisville – Zak Avdul 1 Yard Run (Brian Parker), 31-21
Louisville – Leif Erickson (Brian Parker), 38-21
Stats
Rushing: Louisville 28-163, Minerva 55-196
Passing: Louisville 6-14-79-2, Minerva 5-11-58-0
First Downs: Louisville 13, Minerva 17
Fumbles-Lost: Louisville 1-0, Minerva 1-1
Records: Louisville 8-2, 6-1; Minerva 7-3, 4-3