— It was quite a day of football out at Tiger Stadium. It was opening day for the youth football program Saturday, with the featured event being the Lebanon Tigers week two match-up against the Leo Lions, a 3A school from just north of Fort Wayne.
Though they haven’t won a sectional title since 1995, Leo was coming off back-to-back eight-win seasons and an opening week win over Norwell. Lebanon’s persistence, however, would prove to be too much as the Tigers eked out a win at the last possible moment, 29-28.
The game began much like Lebanon’s opener, in which both offensive squads would control the line of scrimmage. Leo opened the game with an impressive 11-play drive that covered 67 yards and chewed up half of the first quarter.
The touchdown came out of the shotgun on a draw to senior tailback Conner Kacsor as Leo spread the field only to have Kacsor run it straight up the gut from 14 yards out. Kacsor carried the load all evening, finishing with 29 carries for 151 hard-fought yards.
Lebanon’s ensuing drive answered right back as senior fullback Brayton Young carried the load on an 8-play, 72-yard drive, all on the ground.
Young did the honors pounding it in from three yards out, which again would foreshadow a thrilling finish. Young’s touchdown brought Lebanon to within a 7-6 score with 3:00 left in the first.
After a quick three-and-out by the Lions, the Tigers were back on the move. Senior quarterback Matt Beard engineered the triple option to perfection as Lebanon covered 66 yards on 10 plays, which again had Young finding pay dirt off the right side. It was a 6-yard run, followed by the two-point conversion that gave the Tigers a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.
Not to be outdone, Leo’s offense answered the challenge with another 87-yard, clock-eating drive. Kacsor would carry on the final six plays for 30 yards, including the 13-yard score, in which he was untouched straight through the heart of the Tiger defense. The extra point tied the game at 14 apiece.
With the half coming to a close the urgency seemed to pick up, but instead of points, it led to mistakes. Lebanon’s Beard threw his first interception of the young season, followed by lateral by Leo’s junior quarterback Ryan Leiter that Lebanon’s Gabe Frietzsche jumped on. The miscues would end the half in a 14-14 tie.
For more of the story, see Monday’s Lebanon Reporter.
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