Minerva Lions at Louisville Leopards 2016 Football Preview
Week 5: Minerva Lions at Louisville Leopards
SPREAD: Louisville By 30 (According to Drew Pasteur’s Fantastic 50)
WHEN: Friday, September 23 at 7:00 PM
WHERE: Louisville Leopards Stadium
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 63-20-5
LAST MEETING: The Leopards shutout the Lions 48-0 at Hines Stadium back on September 25, 2015
View 2015 Video Highlights & Recap
LAST MEETING AT LOUISVILLE: The Leopards won 44-21 victory against the Lions back on October 10, 2015.
View 2014 Video Highlights & Recap
LAST LIONS WIN: The Lions last defeated the Leopards 29-26 back on September 23, 2011 at Hines Stadium.
View 2006 Video Highlights & Recap
Schedules:
| Louisville Schedule | Minerva Schedule | |||
| WK | Opponent | Result | Opponent | Result |
| 1 | at Canfield | W 21-17 | Field | L 0-34 |
| 2 | at Hoover | L 21-24 | St. Thomas | L 6-35 |
| 3 | Austintown Fitch | L 0-26 | at Central Catholic | L 0-56 |
| 4 | Alliance | W 34-0 | West Branch | L 7-41 |
| 5 | Minerva | 9/23 | at Louisville | 9/23 |
| 6 | at Marlington | 9/30 | at Canton South | 9/30 |
| 7 | West Branch | 10/7 | Salem | 10/7 |
| 8 | at Carrollton | 10/14 | at Marlington | 10/14 |
| 9 | at Salem | 10/21 | Alliance | 10/21 |
| 10 | Canton South | 10/28 | at Carrollton | 10/28 |
LEOPARDS
The Leopards have produced an average of 315 yards (208 passing, 107 rushing) of offense and 19
points per contest, while giving up 255 yards (124 passing, 131 rushing) on defense and 17 points per contest. Louisville has been outscored by the opposition 64-48 in the first half, but holds a 28-3 advantage on the scoreboard in the second half.
On offense, Quarterback Brody Hahn is the Leopards passing leader (66 of 125 for 830 yards, 7 touchdowns) and rushing leader (57 carries, 243 yards, 2 touchdowns). His top target Tyler Adams (31 catches, 403 yards, 5 touchdowns) needs just 2 receptions and 2 receiving touchdowns to break the Louisville career marks. Other Top Receivers include Max Hartline (13 catches, 212 yards, 1 touchdown), Logan Thomas (6 catches, 89 yards), Jack Davis (4 catches, 54 yards, 1 touchdown).
Runningback Gavin VanZant (41 carries, 133 yards, 2 touchdowns) eclipsed his season total last week in a breakout game. VanZant had 10 carries for 72 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Aviators including a 50 yard burst.
Linebackers Justin Vanover (38.5 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble) and Casey Nau (32.5 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble) have been at the core of the Leopards defensive efforts this season and lead the team in tackles.
On the defensive line, Cade Stertzbach (17.5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 3 sacks) is the team leader in 
sacks. Maverick Pugh (11 tackles, 2 tackles for loss) has come on strong the past few games and recovered a fumble deep in Alliance territory last week. Jimmy Leonard (16 tackles, 2 tackle for loss), Dillon Deckerd (11.5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss), Drew Doerschuk (15 tackles, 1 sack) have also made plays up front for Louisville.
Defensive Back Corey White (15 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 2 interceptions) has accounted for half of the Leopards takeaways this season. Gavin Birone (18.5 tackles, 4 pass break-ups) leads the Louisville secondary in tackles and pass break-ups. Other members of the Leopards defensive backfield include Cole Weston (17 tackles, 2 pass break-ups), Jared Mathie (12 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 pass break-up), and Sean McKinney (11 tackles).
On special teams, Adams has taken the majority of kick returns (4 returns, 19.8 avg.) and all of Louisville’s punt returns (5 returns, 4.8 avg.) this season. Look for Adams to spring one sooner or later in the return game. Hartline (2 returns, 22.5 avg.) and Mathie (2 returns, 19.0 avg.) have also run back kicks this season.
Placekicker Hannah Baughman has made 10 of 11 extra points this season and Bradley Terra has been a great asset on kickoffs as well. Hahn (17 punts, 36.8 avg.) has been solid at punter this season in pinning opponents deep in their own territory.
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LIONS
The Lions have averaged 221 Yards of Offense (156 passing, 65 rushing) and 3 points a game, while on 
defense surrendered 383 Yards (171 passing, 212 rushing) and 42 points per contest.
Minerva’s offense is commanded by Quarterback Brock Croston (64 of 125 for 568 yards, 1 touchdown). He has connected with a variety of targets this season including Connor Fritz (19 catches, 229 yards, 1 touchdown), Adam Gross (19 catches, 120 yards), Coy Mullins (11 catches, 60 yards), Reggie Hencock (7 catches, 50 yards), Brent Russell (6 catches, 69 yards), Dom Slentz (4 catches, 29 yards), and Evan Hertel (1 catch, 2 yards, touchdown).
In the rushing game, Mullins (35 carries, 117 yards) has accounted for 45% of the
Lions yards on the ground. Others carrying part of the load in the running game include Brandon Carroll (5 carries, 34 yards), Croston (20 carries, 17 yards), AJ Vasillia (18 carries, 36 yards), and Gross (8 carries, 30 yards).
Minerva’s secondary has produced both of their takeaways this season. Seth McGee (10.5 tackles, 2 
tackles for loss, 1 sack) and Fritz (5.5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss) each have recovered fumbles this season. The defensive backfield also includes Hertel (11 tackles, 1 pass break-up, 1 forced fumble) who leads the team in tackles and Gross (9 tackles, 2 pass break-ups) who is the team leader in pass deflections. Other contributors in the secondary include Alex Kimble (9 tackles, 1 tackle for loss), Jason Williams (6.5 tackles), Shane Walters (6 tackles), and Mullins (1.5 tackles, 1 forced fumble).
Linebackers Dominic Slentz (10.5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss), AJ Vasilliu (9.5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 6 
hurries), Tony Berry (8.5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 hurries), Brant Allen (3.5 tackles), and Hunter Brewster (3 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 hurries) will look to put pressure on the Quarterback. In the trenches, the Lions are anchored by Andrew Mayle (5.5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 2 hurries, 1 forced fumble), Eli Hein (4.5 tackles, 1 hurry), and Tyler Harris (3.5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack, 2 hurries).
On special teams, Zerick Banner has handled most of the punting (10 punts, 32.8 avg.) and all of the place kicking (0 of 1 field goals, 1 for 1 extra points). Andrew Jones (7 punts, 32.1 avg.) has also contributed in the punting game. Gross (12 returns, 18.6 avg.) leads the kick return game for the Lions, while Williams (4 returns, 23.3 avg.) and Hertel (4 returns, 10.8 avg.) has also taken back kicks. Mullins was the recipient on Minerva’s lone punt return this season.
