Ravenna Ends 82 Year Drought in Rout of the Leopards

By Leopard Nation · Published September 10, 2011 · Updated September 10, 2011

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:

Ravenna 31, Louisville 6

1929. Herbert Hoover was president, the stock market was on the brink of the biggest crash in history, and Ravenna defeated Louisville in football 20-0.

Fast Forward to 2011. The Ravenna Ravens erased a 6-3 Leopards halftime lead with four third quarter touchdowns to take the game 31-6.

Things seemed unnatural and out of place all night long. A week ago Lucas Poyser had a career game against Hoover in an almost seemingly surreal 50-7 win. This week the first play from scrimmage ended in a fumble recovery for Ravenna and Poyser being carted off the field.

A game that was expected to a be a high scoring shootout deep into the night turned out to feature a first half that ended just before 8:00 and a defensive 6-3 score at the break.

The only touchdown of the half turned out to be the only touchdown of the game for the Leps when Trent Ohman ran in a sweep from 3 yards away to cap a 9 play 64 yard drive.

Ravenna opened the second half with a 7 play 65 yard drive that ended on quarterback Brandon Holt’s 13-yard touchdown run. After Louisville’s next possession stalled, the Ravens scored again on a D.J. Jones 44-yard touchdown run. The star senior runningback finished with 23 carries for 152 yards on the evening. Faster than lightning Louisville was down 17-6.

But the Leopards started to mount what seemed to be another improbable comeback. Louisville quarterback Chad Neff hit Dillon Stertzbach, who broke a tackle, and then ran past the midfield “R” into Ravens territory. Stertzbach finished leading all receivers with 5 catches for 125 yards on the night. A couple players later Neff found Gavin Lovejoy to convert a 3rd-and-8, which left the Leps just 31 yards away from cutting the deficit to one possession.

Then in a flash (pun intended) Louisville’s momentum was put to an abrupt halt. Lightning had been spotted and a 109-minute weather delay ensued. With a short week ahead of them because of hosting Marlington on Thursday, the Leopards players and coaches waited it out. Many fans left as a light shower drenched the Ravenna Stadium bleachers and green turf of Gilcrest Field. At 10:30 the referee’s whistle sounded and both teams warmed back up.

On the first play from scrimmage Neff through a lateral to Ohman, but he missed his mark. Initially the line judge ruled the pass incomplete and after several minutes of discussion and debate the play was ruled a fumble much to the displeasure of the few Louisville faithful that remained. Louisville turned the ball over on downs after three straight incompletions.

Two plays later Holt broke loose for a 65-yard touchdown run to put Ravenna up 24-6. Holt finished the game with 18 carries for 133 yards and Ravenna amassed 306 total rushing yards on the night.

The final dagger came when a high pass tipped off the hands of Stertzbach landing perfectly into the outstretched arms of Raven cornerback Dylan Fox. Fox returned the pick to the Leopards 6-yard-line before Holt finished off the Leopards with his third rushing touchdown of the night as the third quarter expired.

The Leopards never stopped fighting, but just could not find the endzone as the time ticked completely away on the Ravenna scoreboard that looked eerily similar to the old Louisville Stadium scoreboard. In a key Region 5 match-up, Ravenna had demolished Louisville.

NEXT UP: The Leopards will host the Marlington Dukes on Thursday, September 15 at 7:00 PM. Be sure to come back to Leopard Nation later in the week to get an in-depth preview on the game and series history.