Lovejoy Leopards vs. Argyle Eagles

Freshman 08-26-10

Leopards 28 Eagles 13

Junior Varsity 08-26-10

Leopards 7 Eagles 41

Varsity 08-27-10

Leopards 14 Eagles 17

Freshman Leopards ground the Eagles in Season Opener

The Freshman Leopards football squad came out in midseason form last Thursday night in their home opener against the Argyle Eagles.  Braxton Mayfield scored the first touchdown of the season for the Leopards on a one-yard run that capped a 9-play 60-yard drive. Mick Ellis tacked on the PAT to make the score 7-0.  Lovejoy scored again early in the 2^nd quarter with a 13 yard reception by Chachi Luce from Mayfield. Again, Ellis kicked the PAT for a 14-0 lead. Argyle responded with 3 minutes left in the half with a touchdown and PAT to bring the score to 14-7. But the Leopards came roaring back with a 41-yard pass from Mayfield to Ellis for a Lovejoy touchdown to close out the half. Ellis converted the PAT that resulted in the halftime score being Leopards 21, Eagles 7.

The third quarter was relatively quiet with no scoring by either team. The Leopard defense shut Argyle down repeatedly in the third quarter and throughout the game with multiple tackles by Stephen Bennett, Mason Olk, Jeremy Drum and Daniel Sefcik.  Lovejoy scored with about 8 minutes left in the game on a 28-yard touchdown run by Ellis, who also kicked the PAT. Ellis was all over the field, scoring a touchdown, kicking 4 PAT’s and setting up another Leopard score with a long punt return to the Eagle 12 yard line.

The Eagles did manage to tack on a meaningless touchdown on the last play of the game, but it was too little too late as the Leopards won convincingly 28 – 13.

Written by Travis Shull

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Junior Varsity 08-26-10

Leopards 7 Eagles 41

The Lovejoy Junior Varsity football team hosted the JV Argyle Eagles last Thursday night at Leopard Field. The season opener for Lovejoy started with a silent press box and a darkened scoreboard, as a community-wide electrical failure may have served as an omen of things to come.

While the first quarter ended without a Lovejoy score, there were positive offensive plays from running back Nick Salamina, wide receiver Grayson Williams, and quarterback Drew Scolaro, while defensively Zach Wilkins broke up two Eagle passes.

In the second quarter the Lovejoy defense began strong with impressive tackles from Cameron Seay, Austin Baumert, and Thomas Kotecki. Kotecki also blocked the point-after attempt on the Eagles second score. The Leopard offense was sparked by a long pass from Scolaro to Williams to set up a big Lovejoy first down. And Seay fielded an Eagles kickoff at the 2 yard line and ran to the Leopards 33 yard line mid-way through the second quarter. The Leopards were unable to convert the positive yardage into scores.

The highlights of the third quarter include a kickoff deep into the Eagles territory by Matt Sims, tackles by Jonah Barth, Nate Falk, Guy Roecker, and Kyle Romano. The Lovejoy offense, led by Scolaro used a combination of passes and effective runs to penetrate to the Eagle one-yard line, but was unable to put the ball into the end zone.

The Leopards continued to play hard as the fourth quarter started with big tackles from Dylan Beauregard, and Zach Hall, and Thomas Kotecki blocked his second extra point attempt for the night. Following runs by Seay, and completed passes to Williams, quarterback Scolaro kept the ball and scored for the Leopards with a minute and 12 seconds left in the game. Sims added the extra point for the Leopards final points.

Written by Jill Wilkins

Lovejoy Drops Season Opener 08-27-10

Expectation and reality collided in ugly display of turnovers and penalties as the Lovejoy Leopards suffered through a season opening loss to the Argyle Eagles on Friday. Riding high on a wave of pre-season hype, the 17-14 loss stunned the Leopards who returned 16 starters from the 2009 State semi-final team.

Early indications seemed to confirm all Lovejoy’s pre-season accolades as the Leopard’s highly ranked offense found its rhythm in the first quarter. Starting at their own 20, Lovejoy QB Michael Means connected with Hayden Marsh for 8 yards before finding Parker Norris along the sideline for 63 yards. Three plays later Means capped off the drive with a 1 yard touchdown run. Junior Eddie Puskarich added the extra point and the Leopards led 7-0.

Argyle followed with a long offensive drive of its own behind Eagles QB Austin Aune. At the Lovejoy 19, however, senior linebacker Tanner Michaels intercepted Aune, returning the pick 72 yards to the Argyle 14 yard line. Two plays later, Means found pay dirt again with his second rushing touchdown and the Leopards led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Defensively, Lovejoy held their ground through most of the first half, but ill-timed penalties late in second quarter allowed the Eagles to gain momentum. With less than two minutes to play in the quarter, Argyle marched 82 yards in nine plays, scoring on a 22 yard touchdown run by Layton Lowry to cut the Leopard lead to 14-7 going into halftime.

In the third, the Leopards scrambled to plug holes in their defensive line and secondary, choking on a steady diet of Argyle’s Lowry, Aune and tight end Adam Kahne. Injuries during the game sidelined 3 different Lovejoy starters and the Eagles moved the ball at will. Conversely, the Leopard offense struggled to keep the Argyle defense out of their backfield.

After missing a field goal just before halftime, Argyle’s Chad Hedlund punched through a 39 yarder late in the third quarter. Then with less than two minutes remaining in the third, Carston Bossow scored on a 2 yard run to put the Eagles up for good, 17-14.

Means injured his ankle and hobbled through the second half finishing the game with 17 rushes for 48 yards and two touchdowns, and completing 9-17 passes for 147 yards with an interception. Sophomore running back Nick LaSane had 40 yards on 3 rushes and 2009 standout Blake Martin posted only 23 yards on 9 rushes. Parker Norris led all receivers with 2 catches for 79 yards, while Hayden Marsh caught 5 passes for 45 yards. The Leopards were held to just 9 first downs over the course the game and turned the ball over 3 times.

In a sub-par performance, the Leopard defense allowed 208 yards on 39 rushes and 185 yards through the air. Argyle recorded 22 first downs and turned the ball over only once.

The Leopards hope to right the ship next week as they host Paris at home.

Written by Kim Havens

GRIDIRON CLUB
Lovejoy Football Boosters
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For the latest football information online from Coach Puckett,
go to the LHS website:  http://lhs.lovejoyisd.net

then click "On Campus" then click "Athletics"