Louisville 8th Grade Mauls Marlington 24-8 in Program Debut – Football
Louisville 24, Marlington 8
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The Louisville Leopards 8th Grade football team demolished the visiting Marlington Dukes 24-8 in their inaugural game as a program Wednesday Evening at Louisville Leopards Stadium.
Pawley Scores Twice on the Ground
Neither team was able to score in the opening quarter. The Leopards defense stifled the Dukes’ offense with two consecutive three-and-outs. Louisville’s offense managed to move the chains and traveled across midfield, but a holding call against LMS led to their first drive stalling at the Marlington 40.
The Leopards actually ended up with better field position, than where they ended their first possession, at the Dukes 38 yard line following a punt. Karter Pawley ripped off a 13 yard first down run on the opening play of the next series, and followed that with a 14 yard run two plays later to set Louisville up with a 1st-and-goal. Two plays following that, Pawley ran left through a path paved by blockers Elijah Frank and Anderson Jones before scoring from 7 yards away for the first interscholastic touchdown in Louisville Middle School history. The extra point missed off the left post leaving the score 6-0 LMS with 7:16 remaining in the second quarter.
Later, the Leopards put the game to bed on the opening drive of the second half. They marched 65 yards on 11 plays eating up 6:21 in a game that featured eight minute quarters. Louisville converted a key 3rd-and-8 around midfield on a delayed screen pass from quarterback Karter Elmerick to Pawley who carried a Duke defender past the sticks. Gavin Cantera also scampered through the middle of the line on a 3rd-and-4 for a 22 yard gain to setup the Leopards up 1st-and-goal at the 10.
An acrobatic catch off a deflected pass was hauled in by Ryker Youngen at the 3 yard line to inch Louisville closer. On 4th-and-goal, Pawley ran right behind a pancake block from Caige Cline before running through and over a Marlington defender into the endzone to put the Leopards ahead 24-0.
Edgein Records 2 Interceptions Including Pick Six
Louisville’s defense punished the Dukes for three quarters before the bench was cleared toward the end of the game. The Leopards produced three takeaways during the contest. The first was a fumble recovery by Pawley at the 8 yard line. This led to a 7 yard touchdown run on a quarterback keep by Elmerick two plays later. That put the Leopards ahead 12-0 with 52 seconds remaining before halftime.
On the second play of Marlington’s next drive, Maddux Edgein stepped in front of a pass over the middle of the field, intercepted it, and headed down the left sideline with a convoy of blockers. The play went down as a 62 yard pick six to put Louisville completely in command at 18-0 with 10 seconds to go in the opening half.
The Dukes didn’t record a first down until the final play of the third quarter on a jump ball down the right sideline. Marlington’s momentum would be short-lived as Edgein would intercept the Dukes for a second time on a short pass to the right sideline. Cantera provide the pressure in the backfield on the play to help force the errant throw.
Marlington put together the longest drive of the game to get on the scoreboard late. They strung together an 8 plays, 81 yard drive that ended with a 23 yard touchdown pass with 3:49 remaining. The Dukes also threw to the endzone for the conversion to cut the deficit to 24-8.
However, the Dukes final drive of the game ended with sack by Cantera, a tackle for a loss by Ashton Brown, and finally another tackle for a loss by Cantera to take the clock to triple zeros. The Louisville Leopards 8th Grade Football claimed its first win in program history.
UP NEXT: The Leopards 8th Grade will next host the Green Bulldogs on Wednesday, August 28. Game time is slated for 5:30 PM from Louisville High School practice field.
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Marlington at Louisville 8th Grade Scoring Summary
LEOPARDS 24, DUKES 8
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Marlington 0-0-0-8–08
Louisville 0-18-6-0–24
1st Quarter
NO SCORING
2nd Quarter
LOUISVILLE – Karter Pawley 7 Yard Run (Kick Failed) | LMS 6, MMS 0, 7:16
5 Plays, 38 Yards, 2:00
LOUISVILLE – Karter Elmerick 10 Yard Run (Run Failed) | LMS 12, MMS 0, 0:52
2 Plays, 8 Yards, 0:51
LOUISVILLE – Maddux Edgein 62 Yard Interception Return (Kick Failed) | LHS 18, MMS 0, 0:10
3rd Quarter
LOUISVILLE – Karter Pawley 2 Yard Run (Kick Blocked) | LMS 24, MMS 0, 1:39
11 Plays, 65 Yards, 6:21
4th Quarter
MARLINGTON – #12 23 Yard Pass from #2 (#18 Pass from #2) | LMS 24, MMS 8, 3:49
8 Plays, 81 Yards, 2:21
Records: Louisville 1-0, Marlington 0-1
