Leopards romp past Panthers, 28-20
Penalties and turnovers are costly if they aren’t corrected.
Liberty-Eylau (2-5, 1-0) beat Spring Hill (2-6, 0-2) Friday night at Harris Field in their District 6-4A, Div. II opener, 28-20.
“We’re excited about being 1-0 in district,” LibertyEylau head coach Steve Wells said. “We made a lot of mistakes tonight. I thought we played really well defensively. We had a few too many turnovers for sure.
“A lot of that is attributed to the weather tonight. We have to correct that.”
Kaden Rogers caught a 3-yard pass from Gage White for the Panthers to cut the Leopards lead to eight points with 0:38 seconds left.
Rogers finished the game with two catches for 11 yards and a touchdown.
White ended the night completing 18 of 28 passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns. White also threw two interceptions during the game.
Isaiah Cross scored what would be the game winner late in the fourth quarter on his 45-yard dash with 6:17 remaining in the game for Liberty-Eylau.
Cross completed 2 of 7 passes for 59 yards and a touchdown. Cross also rushed 10 times for 55 yards and a score.
“I’m proud of our kids and proud of the fact we’re 1-0 in district now,” Wells said. “Now we have to
shift our focus to Pleasant Grove next week.”
The Panthers cut into the Leopards lead late in the third quarter.
Morgan Bradford caught a 25-yard pass from White to pull Spring Hill within a score of the Liberty-Eylau, 21-14.
The Leopards wasted no time in the second half to add to their lead.
Cedric Dickerson scored his second touchdown of the game on a 22-yard run with 10:50 left in the third quarter.
Dickerson ended the night with nine totes for 138 yards and two touchdowns.
“We had some illegal procedure penalties we have to clean up,” Wells said. “We have to clean up everything. It was a sloppy game on both sides. I’m proud of the way our kids fought and stayed in the game.”
Shannon Roy intercepted a Gage White pass late in the second quarter, preventing a Panther score before intermission.
Dickerson scored his first touchdown on a run from 15 yards out with 0:22 left in the first half.
White’s first incompletion came in the second quarter.
Until this point, White completed 8 of 8 passes.
Spring Hill answered back the following possession.
Zach Henry caught a 15-yard pass from Gage White to tie the contest.
Henry led the Panther receivers with 11 snags for 106 yards and a score.
El-Amin Greer put the Leopards on the board first in the opening quarter on a 43-yard catch from Cross with 5:05 left.
Greer finished with two catches for 59 yards and a touchdown.