WEEK 1 PREVIEW: Walsh Jesuit Warriors at Louisville Leopards
Walsh Jesuit Warriors (0-0) at Louisville Leopards (0-0)
WHEN: Friday, August 26 at 7:30 PM
WHERE: Louisville Leopards Stadium
RADIO: 1480 WHBC, AultCare Stadium Show beginning at 5:45 PM
TV: TV re-broadcast will take place Friday nights at 11pm and be available on Time Warner Cable NEON Channel 23, Massillon Cable Channel 22 or 21, WIVM Channel 52 (Time Warner Digital Channel 989 in Stark County and Channel 4 in Tuscarawas, Holmes and Carroll Counties). The games will also be available on Time Warner’s ON DEMAND feature Channel 411 and on Massillon Cable’s ON DEMAND feature Channel 1.
HIGHLIGHTS: Will be available following the game late Friday night or early Saturday morning right here on louisvilleleopards.org
SERIES
ALL-TIME SERIES: Walsh Jesuit holds a 1-0 record against the Leps.
LAST MEETING: Walsh Jesuit opened up the 2010 season with a 28-14 win over Louisville back on August 27 at Conway Memorial Stadium.
PREVIEW
The Leopards have not forgotten the way they started the 2010 campaign with a crushing 28-14 defeat at Walsh Jesuit after leading 14-13 in the fourth quarter. Walsh quarterback Connor Cook led the Warriors’ fourth quarter comeback passing for two touchdowns, but Cook will not be present Friday not as he has moved on to play in East Lansing for Michigan State.
LEOPARDS
OFFENSE: On the other end of the spectrum Louisville returns Chad Neff at quarterback, who almost broke free into the open field to tie the game in the fourth quarter on last year’s matchup before his helmet was wrestled off ending the play. Neff hasn’t forgotten, neither have the Leopards who missed the playoffs by around .05 points last year. Neff passed for 1,581 yards, ran for 1,119, and scored 31 total touchdowns (16 passing, 15 rushing). Look for him to obviously be the Leopards go-to guy once again. Also returning to the mix is runningback Lucas Poyser who ran for 803 yards, scored 7 touchdowns, and averaged 5.5 yards per carry. Look for him to have his best year yet. If the Leopards are going to pass they aren’t going to find many veterans to throw to. Michael Schooley, Jeremy White, and Mitch Sluss all have graduated and moved on, the combination accounted for 98 catches, 1403 yards, and all but one of Louisville’s receiving touchdowns through the air. Look for Dillon Sterzbach to lead a senior receiving core that also includes Gavin Lovejoy, Bill Lairson, Adam Nees, & Jon Crank. Also watch out for Trent Ohman, who had several catches and a touchdown in the Orrville scrimmage. The Leopards are not short on receivers at all and should have a very balanced air attack. Louisville’s offensive line shouldn’t have many problems this year either as Cole Lautzenhesier, Sam Pickens, and Tyler Brahler have all returned. Andy Hogus and Blake Vernier are ready to fill in the holes at the tackle positions in an offensive line that averages 241 lbs. across. Look for the offense to be Leopards strength this season.
DEFENSE: Louisville’s secondary looked very vulnerable in the scrimmage at Orrville, but then again it didn’t count. The Leopards may change their defensive scheme from the traditional 5-3 to the 4-3 this year. Leading the charge will be defensive ends Aaron Reynolds and Jake Sluss who combined for 4 sacks and 18.5 tackles for a loss last season. Neff and Poyser should both be a factor at the linebacker position. A secondary made up of the several host of Leopards receivers previously mentioned may be vulnerable at first, but look for these ball-hawking receivers to intercept plenty of passes on the defensive side.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Louisville lost kicking contest champion Jaron Lohmeyer to graduation, but Senior Justin Romy and Junior Merrick Storlie should follow in his footsteps just fine, no pun intended. Neff did the majority of the punting last season averaging 36.5 yards a boot. Sluss returned the majority of the punts and kicks last year for the Leopards, but he did share some of the work with Stertzbach who averaged 24.4 yards on kick returns and 9.6 yards on punt returns.
WARRIORS
OFFENSE: As previously mentioned, Connor Cook is now wearing Green and White and playing on Saturdays. But, University of Cincinnati recruit Nick Wargo should have no problem picking up where he left off at the QB position. In the trenches Walsh has a surplus of talented lineman, eight different players will rotate in-and-out to keep defenses off balance. Wargo will be checking down to his athletic tight end Kevin Enright and handing off to running back Brock Jones and Ryan Jun. Jones ripped off a long run during last week’s scrimmage against Jackson. Walsh fired on all cylinders winning the scrimmage against the Polar Bears 35-3.
DEFENSE: Just like on offense, Walsh is retuning six starters on defense. But knowing the Warriors program you will find that they don’t rebuild, they just reload. Defensive End Antoine Smith will anchor what should be a strong defensive line for the Warriors. Enright, who plays both ways, will be on the other end of the line. The Warriors overall team speed has improved from last year so look for the defense to warm to ball carriers Friday night.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Ross Martin, who has verbally committed to Duke, will resume his duties at the kicking position. He hit from 28 and 38 yards out in last year’s week one contest against the Leopards. Martin has been ranked by rivals.com as the fourth best kicker in the nation for the class of 2012, if the game is close the Leopards are not going to want to see this guy late.
PREDICTION
Louisville is 5-0 inside the gates of Louisville Leopards Stadium and I believe they will be 6-0 after the clock hits 0:00 under the glowing eyes of the Leopard that perches above the scoreboard. Last year Neff was taking the helm of quarterback completely for the first time and the jitters of the first game of the season may have gotten to the Leopards who trailed 10-0 after the first quarter at Walsh last season. The Leps fought back to a 14-13 lead at the end of three, before an experienced Walsh quarterback led the Warriors back. Now the sides have been flipped and it is Neff who is the experienced QB, while Wargo is the leader in training.
Both teams missed the playoffs by a game last year and will come out fighting. The Leopards are coming out fueled with revenge, while Walsh is looking to start the season right before taking on other powerhouses. Last year this game was on Walsh’s grass, this year the game is on Louisville’s turf, expect a shootout with the Leopards defense coming through late. Louisville 27, Walsh 24
