Quick start, defense lifts Leo over Woodlan

Woodlan’s Jacob Kimpel with the assistance of Beau Brooks takes down the Leo ball carrier in the third quarter. More pictures at westbendnews.net

Leo scored twice in the opening stanza and the Lion defense shut down the Woodlan offense in a 43-12 victory in the high school football season opener Friday night.

Mason Sheron plunged three yards for the game’s opening score to put Leo in front at the 9:38 mark of the opening stanza. Jackson Barbour then scored from two yards out with 3:21 on the clock to give the Lions a 14-0 lead after one quarter.

Carson Hoeppner scooted 37 yards with 8:10 left in the first half to extend the Leo advantage to 21-0 but the Lions were far from done.

Ethan Crawford added a 17-yard run for a score to widen the margin to 28-0 with 5:41 on the clock. Logan Barnett then recovered a fumble in the endzone on a Drew Fleek run to push the Lions on top 35-0 at the 4:27 mark of the second quarter.

Sheron wrapped up the opening half’s scoring on a 21-yard touchdown run to give Leo a 41-0 advantage at the break.

A Leo safety was the only scoring in the third quarter before Woodlan dented the scoring column in the final stanza.

Jake Snyder ran it six yards for the opening points by the Warriors before tossing an 18-yard touchdown pass to Austin Stephenson to wrap up the Woodlan scoring.

For the contest, Leo totaled 224 yards of offense compared to Woodlan’s 96. The Lions also had 14 first downs in the contest with the Warriors totaling nine.

Snyder finished 13 of 20 passing in throwing for 69 yards to lead the Warriors while also running for 35 yards on ten carries.

Carson Hoeppner paced Leo with 65 rushing yards on five carries and Sheron added 47 yards over six tries. Ethan Crawford, Max Loeffler and Brett Fuller added 27, 25 and 24 yards, respectively.

Joe Reidy topped the Warrior receivers with four receptions covering 36 yards and Stephenson had five catches for 25 yards.

Defensively, Brock Schott and Anthony Nicklow each had three tackles to lead Leo while Drew Fleek recorded five stops for Woodlan.

D.J. Allen, Ethan Byanski and Charlie Schilb all had sacks for the Lions.

Leo will host Angola, a 42-28 winner over DeKalb, on Friday in high school football action. Woodlan welcomes in Central Noble, which defeated West Noble 21-14, in week two.