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Opening statement: Leopards partake in first-ever Spring Game
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
Friday was a milestone evening in the ever-growing history of Lovejoy athletics.
After years of forgoing spring football training and beginning fall practices early, the Leopards got the chance to enjoy the statewide tradition of the Spring Game for the first time in program history.
"It's a great feeling," said Nick LaSane, Lovejoy junior. "It's our first Spring Game and we're definitely holding a legacy for it. I enjoyed it a lot; it's much better than doing two-a-days."
"It was a great night for both sides of the ball," said Matt Green, Lovejoy head coach. "Both had success and both have some things we can definitely improve on. I really like taking that away from this scrimmage."
After sophomore Tyler Gordon put the kibosh on Black's opening drive of the second half, White required just one play for its first touchdown of the evening as sophomore Daniel Sefcik broke off a 61-yard rushing touchdown down the left sideline for a 10-3 White advantage.
Sefcik's score marked the first of 42 points amassed over the final two quarters after the two teams played to a 3-3 stalemate in a defensive-minded first half.
"I think that if you look at the offense and the way it's designed, it takes a little while to get going," Green said. "But we are a fast-paced, no-huddle tempo team and our goal is to wear people out. I think in the second half that was the case with our defense, but early on they were very strong."
The Leopards' offensive pace was evident from the onset, wasting little time between plays and rifling off snaps from the same spread formation the team utilized last season.
"I came from Lake Travis and that's what we've been doing," Green said. "We've implemented that and it's something we feel will be successful for us, but you've got to play great defense and we will do just that.
"But definitely, this tempo is something new to these kids."
It made the White offense stronger with each possession in the second half, scoring on four of its first five series over the final two quarters.
Junior Cullon Greene helped extend White's cushion to 17-3 with 3:54 left in the third after capping a 14-play, 82-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass on a fade over the shoulder of sophomore Luke Nicklas.
Following an interception by junior Jonathan Otiker that stifled Black's following drive, LaSane further padded White's lead one minute into the fourth with a 7-yard touchdown run set up by a 49-yard scamper from Sefcik. On the night, Sefcik led the Leopards with 148 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries while LaSane added eight carries for 70 yards plus a score.
"I feel like we're going to be doing a lot of running this year," LaSane said. "We're good with both the pass and run though, and we're going to try to find that balance between the two."
While the deep ball wasn't terribly kind to the quarterback rotation of junior Zach Saffle, Greene and sophomore Mick Ellis for much of the contest, Saffle broke through with 7:55 left in the game in completing a deep strike to sophomore Justice Luce for 80 yards and a 31-10 White lead.
Black's offense had its own flashes of brilliance during the second-half scoring spree, most notably with a 70-yard rushing touchdown off a double reverse to freshman Chris Prudhomme late in the third.
Greene, who took snaps at quarterback for both teams, capped the night's scoring with a 1-yard touchdown pass off a play-action look to freshman Noah Coffey to draw Black within the eventual 31-17 final.
"Nobody gets to do this over again," Green said. "They were the group that got to be in the first Spring Game ever in Lovejoy history. Hopefully there will be many more of those to come, but that's a pretty neat deal for the kids who were involved and we're glad as a coaching staff that we got to be involved in that as well."
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