Springfield Spartans at Louisville Leopards 2002 Football Highlights

Louisville 61, Springfield 13

The Louisville Leopards racked up 625 yards of offense during a 61-13 thrashing of the visiting Akron Springfield Spartans back on October 11, 2002.

Quarterback Gary Whaley completed 13 of 18 passes for 356 yards and threw for 4 scores to lead the Leopards. His favorite targets were Justin Boudler who caught 6 passes for 195 yards and Mike Batdorff who made 7 receptions for 165 yards. Boudler caught touchdown passes of 24 & 48 and also ran for a 9 yard score. Batdorff made back-to-back touchdown grabs to start the third quarter from 42 and 62 yards out.

While Louisville threw for 409 yards through the air as a team, they also racked up 216 yards on 27 rushes on the ground. Backup Quarterback Josh Vacha finished as the Leopards leading rusher with 6 carries for 79 yards and a touchdown. Runningback Curtis Elsass also ran for the first two touchdowns of the game and finished with 50 yards on 12 attempts.

The Spartans did have two explosive plays to break double digits. First, Joe Poth connected with Jason Curry for a 70 yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Then later on in the third, Perre caught a 74 yard touchdown strike from Poth. However, Springfield was plagued by turnovers as they lost 4 of their 5 fumbles to fall to 2-6 on the season and 2-3 in the NBC.

Oppositely, everything worked for Louisville including special teams. Marc Zustin returned a punt 80 yards to the house to give the Leopards a 28-7 lead in the second quarter. They would go on to lead 34-7 at the half and 54-13 at the end of the third. The victory sent Louisville to 8-0 on the year and 5-0 in the conference.

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Scoring Summary

Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL

Springfield 0-7-6-0–13

Louisville 21-13-20-7–61

1st Quarter

Louisville – Curtis Elsass 3 Yard Run (Brian Potts Kick), 7-0

Louisville – Curtis Elsass 2 Yard Run (Brian Potts Kick), 14-0

Louisville – Justin Boudler 9 Yard Run (Brian Potts Kick), 21-0

2nd Quarter

Springfield – Jason Curry 70 Yard Pass from Joe Poth (Ward Kick), 21-7

Louisville – Marc Zustin 80 Yard Punt Return (Brian Potts Kick), 28-7

Louisville – Justin Boudler 24 Yard Pass from Gary Whaley (Kick Blocked), 34-7

3rd Quarter 

Louisville – Matt Batdorff 42 Yard Pass from Gary Whaley (Brian Potts Kick), 41-7

Louisville – Matt Batdorff 62 Yard Pass from Gary Whaley (Kick Blocked), 47-7

Louisville – Justin Boudler 48 Yard Pass from Gary Whaley (Brian Potts Kick), 54-7

Springfield – Perre 74 Yard Pass from Joe Poth (Kick Blocked), 54-13