Lebo stomps Hartford, 44-14
Ken Easthouse
Saturday, October 14, 2006
The first five minutes of Lebo’s 44-14 win over Hartford set an early tone for the entire game.
Lebo fumbled twice, losing its first two possessions, while Hartford committed two costly penalties, negating large-gain plays with losses.
“After the first two fumbles, I thought ‘Well that isn’t very cool,’” Lebo coach Butch Jones said.
Lebo eventually cleaned up the fumbles, but both teams continued to be heavily penalized throughout the night. Lebo ended the night with 100 yards of penalties, and Hartford added 55. Even Jones was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct once for arguing over an intentional grounding call.
“We’re going to have to work on what we say and what we do out on the field to stop all those penalties,” Lebo senior Bryant Linsey said.
Jones said he was happy with parts of the Wolves’ attack but acknowledged the team needed to clean up some areas.
“We did a lot of right things at different times,” Jones said. “Take the penalties out of the picture.”
Hartford, meanwhile, is simply trying to salvage its season. The Jaguars lost both Cody Barrett and Chris Wiggins to injury last week against Waverly and were forced to adjust the offense. Senior slotback Mickey Mathews ended up carrying most of the load, sliding in at tailback.
“He did a good job, but we didn’t quite have our rhythm on our offense,” Hartford coach Les Stein said.
Mathews led the Jaguars with 87 yards rushing and a touchdown.
The losses kept piling up for the Jaguars in this game, too.
Quarterback Scott Gardner left the game in the fourth quarter after a hard hit after a Lebo player possibly landed on Gardner’s head.
“He didn’t remember the last play, so we took him out,” Stein said. “There’s no use in risking his health over a football game.”
While Gardner got up and walked to the sidelines under his own power, his neck was sore after the game.
Linsey led the Wolves’ attack throughout the night. He ended with 211 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Not a bad night, considering his first touch of the night was a fumble.
“We came out with two fumbles early in the game, and we knew we had to come out and step it up,” Linsey said.
Next week, Lebo will travel to Waverly to take on the top team in the league and the defending state champions.
“We’re going to have to have a good week of practice,” Jones said. “We’re not going to be able to do those fumbles and those penalties and expect to win the ballgame.”