To tell the story of Friday night’s Sectional semi final, we have to go back in time.
It was September 8 when Leo went to overtime opposite New Haven. Riley Stewart lined up for the extra point to tie the game at 42…and then he missed. It was a heartbreaking moment for Leo and for Stewart and ultimately their only conference blemish that led to them sharing the NE8 crown.
Friday night, right back at Leo and right back at that same set of uprights, Stewart soared to redemption. And he did so in a game that saw he and his Leo teammates answer every single one of East Noble’s amazing scores with astounding touchdowns of their own.
In the end, it came down to a kick. As time expired, Stewart wasn’t fazed; not by the moment, not by East Noble’s attempts to faze him. He just stepped up, as it turned out he did so three times, and put a game winning field goal through the uprights. Leo wins 45-42 and in a game full of heroes, Stewart got to save the day last.
It was the Lions’ sixth straight win in what has become one of Northeast Indiana’s most captivating so-called rivalries. But six straight for the Lions? Three straight seasons eliminating the Knights in the postseason?
As close are the games have been, this rivalry is a bit lopsided at this point in the win/loss column.
Thats not to say that East Noble didn’t show up, that they didn’t make Leo try. In fact, Leo has outscored East Noble 201-144 in six meetings over the last three seasons, which seems like a gap but when you realize 2022’s Sectional win makes up 29 points of that difference, that isn’t very much. Especially when you realize its only an average of 33.5 to 24.
Friday’s slugfest was every bit as exciting as the games have been minus that 2022 affair. And so while the results don’t scream rivalry, the games themselves have been the best back and forth we’ve seen in recent years and Friday’s was likely the best.
That is saying something if you’ve watched their Leo/East Noble battle lately.
Leo looked to be in complete control early, going up 14-0 on two Kaden Hurst scores and forcing a three and out of East Noble with just over four minutes to play in the first quarter. But then Leo made a mistake and East Noble countered. Hurst would touch the ball on the ensuing punt, maybe on accident, but still the Knights would recover in Leo territory. On the very first play of that new drive, Jaxon Keller and Kamden Zeisloft would get tied up on defense and it allowed East Noble’s Mason Treesh to get wide open for a 42 yard touchdown to finally put the Knights on the scoreboard.
But Leo answered.
De’Arious Carter, who has been sparingly used at running back throughout the season, broke off for a 48 yard touchdown on the next Lion possession, just his third of the season. He even had to run basically through a referee to do so. It meant that the Lions opened the game 3-for-3 in scoring drives and was a big chunk of Carter’s masterful 111 rushing yard first half.
East Noble would score again to end the half with under a minute to play when Alex Brennan got wide open for an eight yard score.
The teams exchanged scores to start the second half, but it wasn’t until a score with 3:23 left in the third that Leo had to feel their backs against the wall again. While the Lions brought heavy pressure defensively, East Noble quarterback Zander Brazel stayed poised and made two nice passes off his back foot in a row. The second of which went for 28 yards to Dylan Krehl for the touchdown that tied the game at 28.
But Leo answered.
Facing a 4th and 1 from their own 29 yard line, Leo coach Jason Doerffler made a bold call with 1:16 left in the third quarter: go for it.
It was clear that Doerffler recognized the importance of every offensive possession and wasn’t willing to give one up. So, Kylar Decker didn’t look for a couple of yards for the first down, instead throwing a dot deep down field that was hauled in by Brock Schott for a 71 yard score. The lead again belonged to the Lions, 35-28.
The momentum was huge. It was the biggest play of the game to that point. It happened on a big fourth down gamble. Everything was coming up Lions. East Noble looked like they were going nowhere next before Brazel connected with Landon Swogger for 30 yards on third and eight to end the third quarter. Then, after Treesh went down early in the fourth, East Noble went a different direction in the passing game by hitting Logan Hatton for 25 yards to tie the game at 35 just into the the final quarter.
But Leo answered.
With 6:38 to play on the night, Leo found a 34 yard score, this time coming from Hurst on a pass to Schott as the game kept going back and forth like the best long volley ever.
East Noble, seemingly dead to rights again, back in their own territory, put up a bomb with 5:56 to play as Brazel connected again with Krehl, this time for a 72 yard touchdown and the new longest play of the game. It knotted things up at 42 and should have put a big damper on Leo’s night. It is, after all, a bad time to lose momentum and to lose it in a major way.
Yet, Leo took their time on the next possession, again treating every offensive chance as precious. Carter, who had been a little quiet in the second half compared to the first, just kept grinding and getting small at the point of contact as he moved a handful of yards at a time down field for Leo and through would be Knight tacklers. With 1:02 to play, Carter pushed down to the three yard line and the Lions ran the play clock all of the way down before calling a timeout with 28 seconds to play.
But a bit of a broken play led to Pace Agee taking down Decker with 21.3 seconds to go and put Leo in a position to make a tough decision on 2nd and 6. Carter would get one more run, this time down to the two yard line before Leo’s last timeout with 3.7 seconds left set up the Stewart field goal attempt.
And despite two seemingly intentional encroachments by East Noble to ice Stewart’s attempt, things were just on his side this time as he chipped in the walk off 18 yard field goal to send Leo to the Sectional final. What a redemption arc for the newest chapter of this captivating war between Leo and East Noble football.
Carter ended with 188 yards rushing for Leo while Decker was 14 of 18 passing the ball for four touchdowns and 242 yards.
Brazel was 14 of 22 throwing the ball for East Noble for 309 yards and five touchdowns with 115 of those yards going to Krehl, who also ran for 57 yards.
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