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Friday, August 23, 2024 | 10:49 p.m.
Antonio Rossetti | TribLive
Leechburg captains, from left: Jake Cummings (88), Lucas Gamble (23), Jayden Floyd (7) and Brady Shearer (51), move to midfield for the coin toss before playing Apollo-Ridge on August 23, 2024 in Leechburg.
Antonio Rossetti | TribLive
Apollo-Ridge players gather before playing Leechburg in Leechburg on August 23, 2024.
Antonio Rossetti | TribLive
Apollo-Ridge captains, from left, Ryan Lydon (77) and Seth Mahaffey (32), move to midfield for the coin toss before playing Leechburg on August 23, 2024 in Leechburg.
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Leechburg trailed Apollo-Ridge 14-7 on Friday at Veterans Memorial Field, but the Blue Devils fought to the end, scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter and securing a 19-14 victory.
The Blue Devils were led by Jayden Floyd, who completed 13 of 18 passes with a touchdown and rushed for 85 yards on 16 carries and touchdowns. Floyd also recovered a key fumble forced by Philup Rearick.
“It was a great team win,” Floyd said. “They’re a good 2A team. I think they can go far in the 2A conference. They were physical. We came out and punched him in the face a couple times. It was a pretty good game. We fought to the end. That’s how it’s always going to be with Leechburg and Apollo. We’re always going to fight to the end.”
The Blue Devils entered the second half with a 7-0 lead after having possession for more than 11 minutes in the first quarter.
The Vikings, however, entered the second half with renewed energy. A 15-yard pass from Alex Clawson to Jayden McCray put them in enemy territory. Clawson then fought his way 15 yards to the Leechburg 23-yard line.
Clawson then rolled and found Nathan Fryer for a 23-yard touchdown pass. Gabe Suman scored the extra point to tie the score at 7-7.
Clawson had Apollo Ridge marching down the field again on the next drive. Clawson found Logen Schrock on fourth-and-4 to score on the first down. This led to a 27-yard pass from Clawson to Gage Wingard to the 1-yard line. Taye Bradshaw threw it for a touchdown, making it 14-7 Apollo Ridge.
Apollo Ridge junior Avery Grant then stopped Jake Cummings in the backfield on fourth-and-1, giving the Vikings the ball back at the Blue Devils’ 42-yard line.
Leechburg forced a punt early in the fourth quarter.
The Blue Devils responded with a touchdown drive, with Floyd completing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Rollinger.
Leechburg’s trickery on the next point was unsuccessful. Floyd rolled out after the snap but could not tie the ball to Tim Andrasy, leaving the score 14-13.
Chris Dailey took over at quarterback to start their next drive. Cummings then intercepted a pass from Dailey and took them into Apollo Ridge territory.
This led to a quick 32-yard drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown run by Floyd.
Floyd has completed 8 of his last 9 passes.
Cummings had five catches for 67 yards and Brady Rollinger caught four passes for 52 yards and a touchdown.
“I have the most confidence in my receivers,” Floyd said. “I know if I throw the ball in the air, they’re going to go up and catch it. I think we have the best receivers in our league. I just told them we’re going to go out and win the game, so we all have confidence.”
Leechburg coach Randy Walters added, “A lot of guys came out of their holes. Rocco Vigna didn’t play well in the first half. He played like an animal in the second half. Brady Rollinger played like an animal. The line got better in the second half. Timmy Andrasy didn’t have to run much, but he still ran like a little madman. Everybody did what they were supposed to do. Everybody stayed with it. Everybody believed in it until the end. That’s why we were able to do it.”
Floyd managed 72 yards on the ground in the first half, but the Vikings defense made adjustments. Still, he commented on Floyd’s ability to do it all.
“They’re big, they’re strong, so we have to do different things,” Walters said. “The nice thing is we have a guy who can run. We have a guy who can throw. I mean, the guy can make all the throws.”
Apollo-Ridge’s best players were Alex Clawson, who completed 10 of 15 aerial passes for 164 yards and a touchdown, and Jayden McCray, who caught four passes for 74 yards.
Still, penalties were their undoing. The Vikings were assessed eight penalties before the snap. Two of those penalties were back to back when the Vikings had the ball at the Leechburg 5, pushing them back to the 15.
This resulted in a deflected pass that was intercepted by Rollinger.
Coach John Skiba was dissatisfied with the self-inflicted penalties.
“The comedy we put on on the field, with the penalties, all sides, the procedures, the fumbles, the stupid things we do to each other, the self-inflicted things everywhere, I don’t know what’s positive about it at all,” Skiba said. “One thing is that we’re healthy. That’s maybe the only positive.”
Walters wants to continue to build a great program and instill confidence in the players.
“We just have to keep working on it, mentally working on that success,” Walters said. “The physical aspect is that our kids are big and strong. Everyone could do with more physical training. I mean, it’s football. They’ve worked their butts off. We just have to work more on their mental game, getting the message across to them that they’re a really good football program because they’ve gotten pretty good.”
Tags: Apollo Ridge, Leechburg
