In a rematch of one of my favorite match ups from last season we have the Lovejoy Leopards hosting the North Crowley Panthers. Both teams are LOADED on both sides of the ball, and are expected to make deep runs in their individual playoff brackets. North Crowley is led by three-star defensive tackle Sterlin Brooks & four-star junior running back Cornelius Warren III. Lovejoy has a STACKED offense once again with receivers like Parker Livingstone & Daylan McCutcheon while also having four-star linebacker Payton Pierce locking down the defense.
North Crowley got the game started off methodically rushing down the field but came up short on an early 4th down. Lovejoy’s offense would come out hot scoring 13 points in the first quarter. The first one thanks to Dante Dean punching in a short yard run, and the second was from a short screen pass to Khalin Williams who would leap in for the score.
Both teams would find the endzone in the second quarter as the Panthers offense slowly woke up. Corneilus Warren & Ashton Searl helped them move down the field and Warren capped off the drive with a touchdown. They’d go for two, and get that to make it a 13-8 game. The Leopards would strike right back, moving the ball down the field thanks to Daylan McCutcheon. Once they got inside the 5-yard line they would line up Payton Pierce as wildcat QB, and he punched in the touchdown to extend their lead 20-8.
However right before halftime a gnarly storm rolled in causing the game to be delayed with less than 2 minutes before the clock ran out. For a second there it really looked like the game could be delayed till the next day or even canceled due to it being a non-district match up. Luckily for us though the storm rolled by and the game resumed. With all Lovejoy’s momentum knocked away, North Crowley showed new life after getting back on the field.
A few plays after the game started back up, the Panthers would punch in a touchdown to bring the game within a score. They got the ball back after a quick halftime, and suddenly this game was all in favor of North Crowley. Cornelius Warren III would punch in his third touchdown of the night giving North Crowley the lead. He proceeded to tell me
"We are about to run it up now, bet on that!"
He was not kidding. The Panthers defense was flying to the ball, getting after the quarterback, and completely shutting down the Leopards offense.
Chris Jimerson Jr. would finally find a groove in the passing attack and moved the ball down the field in big chunks. After a pass interference set up the offense inside the redzone, Jimerson would find Lamarcus Daivs for a 15-yard touchdown. The score would now sit at 29-20.
Right before the third quarter ended Chris Jimerson Jr would connect with Lamarcus Davis once again on a 30-yard touchdown to put the final nail in the coffin. Lovejoy just wanted to go home at this point, as did I, and the game clock seemingly ran out from there. North Crowley would finish with over 250 rushing yards and 450 total yards of offense on the night. The defense also finished with 11 tackles for a loss, 14 QB hurries and 4 sacks making for a very well rounded performance.
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