Leopards battle against the Farmersville Farmers in week 6.

Freshman Leopards (14)  vs Farmers(12)

JV Leopards                (8)   vs Farmers (14)

Leopards                     (17) vs Farmers (37)

Freshman

The Lovejoy Freshman Football Team traveled to Farmersville on Thursday (10/9/2008) evening to play the Fighting Farmers. While the season thus far has been feast or famine with large scoring differences in wins and losses, this first division game was a nail biter to say the least. Farmersville drew first blood by returning a punt 50 yards for a touchdown, but missed the extra point attempt, for a 6-0 lead. The Leopards responded with a bruising ground attack that highlighted the hardnosed running of Hiram Muhammad. Displaying a combination of power and speed, Muhammad capped off the drive with a 10 yard touchdown run. Michael Myers followed the score with a successful extra point attempt to give the Leopards the lead 7-6. After a series of defensive stops by both teams, Farmersville was finally able to move the ball deep into Leopard territory with a first and ten at the Leopard 10 yard line. With time in the first half running down, the Leopard defense said "No More!" Four times the Fighting Farmers attempted push the ball into the end zone, and four times the Leopard defense denied the charge with an outstanding defensive goal-line stand! The second half of the game was a defensive battle as both teams moved the ball but were unsuccessful in crossing the goal line. With 2 minutes left in the game, and Lovejoy still leading 7-6, Farmersville was staring at a 4^th down and 25 for a first down. With the game on the line, the Fighting Farmers tossed a Hail Mary pass that was completed with an outstanding catch by a Farmer receiver on about the Lovejoy 1 yard line. On the next play Farmersville scored a touchdown, again missing the extra point, but taking a 12-7 lead over our Leopards. After the ensuing kick-off, Lovejoy was faced with 65 yards of gridiron and less than 2 minutes to score. "Dancing with the one that brought them", Coach Emory and staff went to the Hiram Muhammad well once again, and were rewarded when Muhammad ripped off a 50 yard touchdown run to give the Leopards the lead and the win. Notable performances for the game besides Muhammad would include Brandon McKenzie, Nate Faulk, Cade Mileger and Michael Myers. Great game boys!

Written by Mike McInerney

Junior Varsity

The Leopards traveled to Farmer Stadium on Thursday (10/9/2008) for what became, so far, the most exciting game of the season.

Lovejoy received the first kickoff and quickly moved down the field.  Ryan Whitt executed a beautiful counter play where Cameron Seay ran for a 24 yard gain.  A penalty was called which erased the gain.  Lovejoy failed to gain the next first down and punted to Farmersville, who scored after 8 more plays.  The two point conversion made the score Lovejoy 0, Farmersville 8.

The Lovejoy momentum returned in the second quarter.  Michael Peterson forced a quarterback fumble.  On the next play, Parker Nevil broke through the line and drug the quarterback 10 yards before throwing him to the ground.  Farmersville attempted to punt, but fumbled on a bad snap and Sean Buyukdura and Tyler Bailey quickly pounced on the ball at the Farmersville 33-yard line.  Handoffs from Whitt to Seay and Austin Hartter moved the ball to within the Farmersville 17.  Lovejoy punted, and Farmersville had the ball for only two plays before fumbling.  Lovejoy recovered the ball at the Farmersville 3-yard line.  A handoff from Whitt to Zander Hamilton landed the first JV Leopard touchdown of the season (and the crowd went wild!)  A two point conversion tied the score 8 to 8.  Brandon Henderson intercepted the ball at the 50 yard line on the third play of the Farmersville possession.  Hartter ran the ball to the Farmersville 37 yard line.  The refs made some very confusing calls at this point, and the half ended without further score.

Neither team scored in the third quarter.  Zander Hamilton ran for a gain of 15 yards in a single play.  Chris Cunningham and Nevil simultaneously broke through and sacked the quarterback at the line of scrimmage.

In the fourth quarter Lovejoy drove to within 2 yards of the Farmersville goal line.  The Farmers recovered a fumble and returned the ball to the 50 yard line.  Sean Gordon sacked the quarterback at the Lovejoy 37.  The fabulous Lovejoy defense machine stopped the Farmersville advance within the 1 yard line on the 4^th down.  A very controversial call by the refs gave Farmersville the first down (the marker team had already laid down the markers).  Farmersville scored again, making the final Lovejoy 8 Farmersville 14.

Written by Daris Nevil

Lovejoy Squares Off With Farmersville

The Leopards drew the sword in anger and took the field against the Farmers on Friday night (10/10/08) at Lovejoy Stadium. Playing against last year's 2A State Champions, Lovejoy had its hands full but fought hard throughout the contest. After receiving the kickoff the Farmers drive looked to be halted and thrown back when Ticer Havens dropped the runner for a loss in a dramatic play on third down. The Farmers went for broke on 4^th down however, and scored on a surprising pass up the middle. The Leopards picked up some good yardage on their next drive as Michael Means connected with Hayden Marsh for a first down and Blake Martin had a strong run for a first. Ultimately the ball was turned over on downs. Big Chris Rivas operating from his spot on the D-line scooped up a fumble returning the ball over to the Leopards. Freshman kicker Eddie Puskarich easily nailed a forty four yard field goal. Gracious! The Lovejoy kickoff was punctuated by an ESPN highlight type tackle by Freshman Nate O'Conner. He followed that up with another powerful tackle but was injured in the encounter. His presence and later that of Havens would be sorely missed. They certainly went down on their shields. The Farmers were able to score on the drive with a long run followed up with a touchdown pass. Later in the half a punt return extended the lead to 21-3. On their final drive of the half a strong passing performance by Means with consecutive first down passes to Hunter Jarvis and receptions by Marsh and Parker Norris came up empty.

Lovejoy received the ball in the second half but quickly turned the ball over on an errant option play. The Farmers went in for a quick score. As he has all year, Blake Martin rallied the Leopards with an eighty yard run for a touchdown. Kealyn Oliphant then nailed the kickoff returner and after strong tackle for a loss by Conner Smith, Oliphant picked off a Farmersville pass to set the offense up. Using a couple of first down runs by Martin and a pass to Austin Crisler, Means had a strong fourteen yard touchdown run and after the Puskarich kick the lead was narrowed to 28-17. However a long run by the Farmers showed their mettle as they sealed the deal with a final touchdown resulting in a final score of 35-17. Martin rushed for 168 yards on 23 carries and Means completed 12 of 21 passes for 105 yards.

The Leopards will be in a cat fight next week as they travel to play the Panthers of Quinlan Ford in their second district game of the year.

Written by Keith Wright