Alliance Aviators at Louisville Leopards 2010 Football Highlights
All seemed out of sorts Friday Night at the new Louisville Leopards Stadium when the Alliance Aviators (4-4, 2-3) jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead and the Louisville Leopards (6-2, 5-0) managed only 78 yards of offense in the first half. Then like a single flame thrown into a giant boiler, Chad Neff ignited the Leopards.
First year head coach John Demarco elected to start Senior Quarterback Toby Minster over Neff, who was battling a shoulder injury all week from a hit in last week’s 45-34 win over Carrollton. After a first half of miscues and a struggle to move the ball, Demarco decided it was time for Neff to go back in, a decision he would not regret.
Neff immediately set the tone running up the gut for a first down on his first play from scrimmage. Then he led the Leopards down the field on a 65-yard drive that ended with a 16-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Michael Schooley. The Leopards quickly got the ball back and it did not take long for them to go ahead. Neff found junior wide receiver Jeremy White down the middle of the field, who scampered past a diving defender for a 61-yard score. White ended up with 3 catches for 104 yards on the evening. 20-14 Louisville.
On the ensuing possession, Neff led the Leopards on an 88-yard drive that ended with him plunging and diving into the endzone 46 seconds into the fourth quarter. Then the Leopards decided to hammer the nail into the coffin. They converted on a fake extra point pass to go up 28-14, before sophomore Alex Schooley recovered the kickoff taking a possession away from Alliance. Neff then ran for a 22 yard scamper that set up a 23-yard touchdown run by junior runningback Lucas Poyser. Poyser rushed for 73 of Louisville’s 264 yards on the ground. 35-14 Leopards and not even 2 minutes of the fourth quarter had been played.
That was it. At least for Neff and the starters. In less than 14 minutes of playing time, Neff went 4-for-5 passing for 122 yards and ran 4 times for 99 yards. The Leopards scored on all four possessions with the junior quarterback on the field. In the 13:43 that Neff played, Louisville outgained Alliance by 275 yards and had a lopsided 26-6 advantage in plays from scrimmage.
The Leopards weren’t done though, as senior runningback Preston Massey scored on a 1-yard plunge with 4:57 to go in the game. 42-14.
Alliance had major issues in the punting game as well. A snap out of the back of the endzone gave Louisville their 44th unanswered point near the end of the game. But, earlier junior Jake Sluss blocked Zach Davis’s punt and Aaron Reynolds took it to the house for the Leopards only first half score. Closer to halftime, a punt snap went over Davis’s head and he wisely picked it up in his own endzone and punted it for about 40 yards. The Leopards failed to score after Jaron Lohmeyer missed a 31-yard field goal just before half.
Alliance jumped out to a 14-0 lead after some shifty moves by junior quarterback Taurice Scott. Scott led Alliance on an 8 play, 70 yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by junior Frank Hill. Hill finished with 42 rushing yards on the night. Alliance didn’t pass a single time e on their first possession, but Scott found senior wide receiver Chavas Young for a 51-yard touchdown strike to put the Aviators up 14-0. Young finished with 90 yards receiving on 4 catches. Scott accounted for 186 total yards of offense.
What gets lost in the whole Louisville, Neff saga is the defensive play by the Leopards. After the Leopards trailed 14-0, Louisville went on lockdown. Led by linebacker Michael Schooley, the Leopards defense only allowed an average of less than four yards on Alliance’s next seven possessions. Schooley only accounted for one sack, but seemed to be all over the field along with the rest of the swarming blue and white defense.
The Leopards faced adversity, but turned it into their 25th straight NBC win. They will test that streak next week when they travel to Marlington to face the undefeated 8-0 Dukes. Each team is 5-0 in the conference, as the Dukes will try for their first win against Louisville since the mid-1990’s. But, before the Duke’s are crowned to the NBC throne, they will first have to take out the king.
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