Louisville Leopards at Minerva Lions 2013 Football Highlights
Louisville 31, Minerva 7
“Arguably the worst 6-0 team in the state” was the label given to Louisville on a Yappi Forum thread earlier this week. The Leopards used that post as bulletin board material Friday Night at Minerva (4-3, 2-2) where they convincingly downed the Lions 31-7 at Robert H. Hines Stadium. With the victory, Louisville is now 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the NBC.
The Leopards defense held the Lions offense to just 75 yards and 2 first downs. One of those first downs came on a 56 yard touchdown run by Cody Parrish. That play was the only thing that prevented Louisville from earning their third consecutive shutout.
Despite giving up a 56 yard touchdown run, the Leopards held Minerva’s Wing-T rushing attack to just 39 yards on 26 carries. Several Lions runs went for negative yards including the opening score that came via a safety when Josh Brown tackled the Minerva runner in the endzone. Usual suspects also found in the backfield included Dylan Kline, Lewis Adkins, and others. Louisville scored a second safety later on in the second half via a bad snap on a punt.
The Leopards opened up the passing game as Connor Zwick was 17 of 21 for 221 yards and threw for 3 touchdowns. Zwick connected on a 3 yard touchdown strike to Kyle Bast and a 19 yard touchdown pass to Alex Hollifield in the second quarter to give Louisville a 15-0 advantage. Bast would go on to finish as the game’s leading receiver with 7 catches for 97 yards.
After the Lions cut the Leopards lead to 15-7 at halftime, Louisville made two huge plays that kept the tide in their favor for good. First, Cole McElroy recovered a fumble to halt what looked to be a promising Minerva drive. Then on the ensuing Louisville drive, Zwick ran the needed yards on a 3rd-and-21 play that proved to be a Lion back breaker. Six plays later Dakota James carried the ball into the endzone from 4 yards out to put the Leps up 22-7.
After Louisville made it 24-7, the Leopards continued to shutdown the Lions and win over field position. Minerva was again forced to punt out of their own endzone and after a good run back by Andy Minster the Leopards started from the Lions 27. Two plays later Hollifield reached out over a Minerva defender and caught his second touchdown of the contest to put the final nail in the coffin. Hollifield finished the evening with 5 catches for 91 yards.
With the victory, Louisville is now 61-20-5 all-time against the Lions including 32-9-3 at Minerva. The Leopards have now won 12 of the last 13 against the Lions. They will take their undefeated record up against visiting Marlington (6-1, 4-0) next week in what could prove to be the game that determines the 2013 NBC Champion.
Pictures
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Statistics
Louisville 2 13 9 7 31
Minerva 0 7 0 0 7
1st Qtr:
L – 2:52 – Safety – Dalton Hartshorn tackled on run
2nd Qtr:
L – 8:36 – Kyle Bast 3 yd pass from Connor Zwick
Run Failed
9 plays 68 yds
L – 4:08 – Alex Hollifield 19 yd pass from Connor Zwick
Jordan Hughes PAT
5 plays 39 yds
M – 3:49 – Cody Parrish 56 yd run
Tyler Stewart PAT
1 play 56 yds
3rd Qtr:
L – 4:39 – Dakota James 4 yd run
Jordan Hughes PAT
9 plays 60 yds
L – 2:54 – Safety – Dalton Hartshorn bad punt snap
4th Qtr:
L – 9:28 – Alex Hollifield 27 yd pass from Connor Zwick
Jordan Hughes PAT
2 plays 27 yds
Team Stats:
First Downs:
Louisville: 16
Minerva: 2
Rushing:
Louisville: 40 carries for 118 yds
Minerva: 26 carries 39 yds
Passing:
Louisville: 17 of 21 for 221 yds 3 TD’s 0 INT
Minerva: 3 of 9 for 36 yds 0 TD’s 0 INT
Fumbles/Lost:
Louisville: 2/0
Minerva: 5/1
Penalty/Yds:
Louisville: 5/50
Minerva: 4/34
3rd Down Conversions:
Louisville: 6/14
Minerva: 0/9
4th Down Conversions:
Louisville: 0/2
Minerva: 0/0
Individual Stats:
Rushing:
Louisville: Connor Zwick – 14 carries for 50 yds
Dakota James – 9 carries for 31 yds 1 TD
Walter Schrock – 13 carries for 28 yds
Dalton Deckerd – 2 carries for 3 yds
Brandon Reynolds – 1 carry for 3 yds
Marco Buccasso – 1 carry for 3 yds
Minerva: Cody Parrish – 10 carries for 74 yds 1 TD
Passing:
Louisville: Connor Zwick – 17 of 21 for 221 yds 3 TD’s 0 INT
Minerva: Josey Riley – 3 of 9 for 36 yds 0 TD’s 0 INT
Receiving:
Louisville: Kyle Bast – 7 catches for 97 yds 1 TD
Alex Hollifield – 5 catches for 91 yds 2 TD’s
Andy Minster – 3 catches for 18 yds
Bryce Mathie – 2 catches for 15 yds
Minerva: Billy Eyer – 2 catches for 25 yds
