Leake
muscles past Canton in district battle
Southern
Sports & Travel
Only
one week removed from upsetting Tri-County to halt the state’s longest win
streak at 31 games, the sixth ranked Leake
Rebels wrapped up a brutal three game road swing on Friday night with a 21-3
win over fifth ranked Canton.
Leake
rolled up 227 rushing yards and scored 21 unanswered points in defeating Canton
to improve to 4-2 overall and sit alone at 3-0 in District 2-AA play.
After
forcing the Canton offense into a quick three and out on the opening possession
of the night Leake went right to work as the Rebels powered their way to the
Canton 39 yard line but the drive would end when Canton linebacker Tanner Tate
recovered a Taylor Nazary fumble at the Panther 30 yard line at the 7:12 mark
of the quarter.
Canton
capitalized on the turnover and took a 3-0 lead on Dominic Sanderson’s 32 yard
field goal with 3:48 left in the opening quarter of play.
Leake
responded with a grinding 17 play, 80 yard drive that chewed up 8:58 off the
clock and included two 4th down conversions.
Chris
Pippin’s 11 yard burst up the middle to the Canton 11 yard line preserved the
Rebel drive and four plays later, facing a 4th and 3 from the
Panther 4 yard line, quarterback Alex Shepard found Drew McMillan in the
endzone for a 4 yard touchdown pass to give Leake their first lead of the
night.
John
Forrest Sisson’s PAT gave Leake a 7-3 lead with 6:43 remaining in the half.
Canton
managed just 4 yards on the ensuing possession and it would prove costly.
Kraft
McLean’s 31 yard punt gave Leake advantageous field position at the Rebel 43
yard line with 4:24 remaining in the half.
Leake
powered their way to the Canton 24 yard line on seven consecutive run plays and
then Alex Shepard hooked up with Chris Pippin for a 21 yard pass and catch to
the Panther 3.
Three
plays later Shepard’s bootleg left capped the 11 play, 54 yard drive with 10
seconds remaining in the half.
Sisson’s
PAT extended Leake’s advantage to 14-3.
Leake
threatened to blow the game open to start the second half.
Taylor
Nazary returned the second half opening kick-off 88 yards before getting
hauled down at the Canton 7 yard line but the Rebels couldn’t cash in on the
opportunity as John Forrest Sisson’s 20 yard field goal attempt went wide
right four plays later.
With
7:08 remaining in the third quarter Canton produced their most serious scoring
threat of the night.
Following
Cedric Clanton’s 31 yard punt return to the Leake 42 yard line the Panthers
moved 8 plays to the Rebel 10 yard line.
Houston
Persac hit tight-end Cole Goza for a quick 6 yards to the Leake 4 but on the
following play Persac’s pass would be intercepted by John Forrest Sisson in the
endzone to squelch the drive with 1:22 left in the third quarter.
Canton
would pin Leake deep into their own territory with just over eight minutes
remaining in regulation.
Kraft
McLean’s 56 yard punt would roll dead at the Rebel 3 yard line but Leake was
about to salt away the game with a 13 play, 97 yard drive in which five
different Rebels carried the football.
Junior
quarterback Alex Shepard sealed the win with a 13 yard touchdown run with 1:16
remaining and a John Forrest Sisson PAT capped the scoring and gave Leake a
21-3 win at Canton.
“I’m
very proud of my crew,” said Leake head coach Brian Pickens. “We knew it was
going to be a physical game.”
Senior
tailback Taylor Nazary (Right) led the Leake ground game with 102 yards on 20 carries
and John Forrest Sisson picked up 59 yards on 14 carries.
Chris
Pippin rushed for 41 yards and had a 21 yard reception.
Thomas
Nazary had 2 receptions for 52 yards and Drew McMillan had 2 catches for 28
yards and a touchdown.
Alex
Shepard, starting in just his third game at quarterback, went 5/9 for 101 yards
and a touchdown and rushed for 24 yards and 2 scores.
The
Leake defense has faced three of the top rushers in Class AA over the past
three weeks.
The
Rebels held Simpson’s Daniel Taylor to 110 yards two weeks ago, Tri-County’s
Ryan Cothern to 78 yards last week and contained Canton tailback Lafayette
Wales to 93 yards on 15 carries last night.
Leake
will return home next Friday night to host Winston while Canton (4-2 & 0-1)
travels to Flora to take on Tri-County.
.
Post Game with Leake Head Coach Brian Pickens
