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ND=Nondistrict D=District PO=Playoffs
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Smiling faces and hugs were plenty after Friday, September 3's victory over the Cameron Yoeman. With just 3:54 left in the game, it appeared the Yoeman might have the victory in hand. However, the Leopards had other plans in mind. To Cameron's amazement, the La Grange Leopards successfully completed a touchdown drive and pat. Final score: La Grange 34 Cameron 30
The Hallettsville Brahmas feeling confident after their 43-6 victory over Schulenburg were stunned by the La Grange Leopards on Friday, September 10. The 27-10 La Grange victory provided additional reason to celebrate during the homecoming festivities.
La Grange opened up the game with a sound drive down to the goal line only to be turned away because of a missed pitch out. However, La Grange responded quickly by scoring first. The pat failed. Hallettsville would also get on the scoreboard with a field goal only after being denied the touchdown.
La Grange led at the half and kept the lead throughout. The Leopards were excited with the win to go into the season with a 2-0 record. La Grange will play the Gonzales Apaches in Gonzales this Friday, September 17.
On Friday, September 17, the La Grange Leopards proved to themselves, the fans, and especially the Gonzales Apaches, that they could come from behind to win a football game as long as they played as they know to do. After trailing by 19 points during the second quarter to 19-7 right before the half, the La Grange Leopards had to turn their game around if they wanted to obtain the victory.
Coach Valastro said,"In the locker room at halftime, I did not even raise my voice. I just told the team that if they would play their game the way they know to, we could win." And that's just what the players did the second half. La Grange scored 13 unanswered points while holding Gonzales to just 46 yards rushing.
The Leopards improve their season record to 3-0 and will travel to Lockhart to play the Lockhart Lions a 4A team.
It was the battle of the 3A versus the 4A on Friday night, September 24. It was also the highlight game on KVUE. The La Grange Leopards travelled to Lockhart to take on the Lions.
The Leopards took the lead by 13 to only have the Lions come from behind to lead by one, 14-13. However, that would be all the Lions would put up on the scoreboard. La Grange took control and lead from there on out. In spite of a game ending injury to Shauntae L., a concussion to Kenny U., a dislocated finger for Tye G., and starting five quarterbacks, La Grange showed great character in their 34-13 victory. The Leopards improved to 4-0 in nondistrict play.
La Grange will host the Giddings Buffaloes for their district opener on October 8. The Leopards will have to continue to draw on great character to overcome the lost players due to injury and grades.
The La Grange Leopards opened up district on October 8 with a 21-14 victory over the Giddings
Buffaloes. La Grange put up 6 points on their second possession after being denied
the touchdown on their first possesion where they were stopped just short of the
goal line. La Grange would score a second touchdown and two-point conversion bringing
the score to 14-0 with just 56 seconds left in the half. With a seemingly comfortable
lead to take into the locker room, the La Grange team, staff, and fans were feeling
pretty good. Their comfort zone was short lived, however, when Giddings returned the punt some
50 plus yards into La Grange territory. On the Buffaloes next play from scrimmage,
the receiver bobbled the pass just enough to catch it and take it into the end
zone for a touchdown. The PAT was good, making the score La Grange 14 Giddings 7
right before the half.
The third quarter began with a kick-off to the Buffaloes, and approximately three minutes later, Giddings had scored again tying it all up at 14-14. Play continued with each team trading possession until La Grange scored again, making it 21-14. Giddings would try to put together another offensive drive, but was unable to execute leaving the La Grange Leopards the victor.
The Leopards are now 5-0 overall, and 1-0 in district. They will travel to Hempstead to take on the Bobcats who are 2-4 overall, and 0-1 in district with their opening loss to Columbus.
The Leopards from La Grange travelled to Hempstead on Friday, October 15 to continue district play. The Leopard stands were packed as well as the fence row with fans eager to see an exciting ballgame and that's just what happened.
The Leps opened up the game with an impressive offensive drive to put them on the scoreboard first. Brad K.'s PAT was good giving the Leopards a 7-0 start. However, Hempstead soon returned the favor when their quarterback out manuevered several Leopard defenders to make it into the end zone for their first and only score. With a good PAT; the score was 7-7. From that point on it was all La Grange.
The Leopards continued to put together impressive offensive drives and scoring. In addition, Brad K. was also able to get some practice in on field goals. He made two field goals which added an additional six points for the Leps. The defense was able to hold Hempstead, as well as force turnovers and make interceptions. Seth A. and Wade B. both had outstanding pass interceptions.
With the substantial lead in place, several Leopards enjoyed playing positions they would not normally have the opportunity to play.
The final score was La Grange 34 and Hempstead 7. La Grange is among just ten of over 200 3A schools still undefeated this season. They improve their district standing to 2-0 with their overall standing at 6-0. La Grange will host the Columbus Cardinals on Friday, October 22.
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Columbus opened up the game with a quick and profitable drive to put a leading 7-0 score up. La Grange, however, responded with their own impressive offensive drive to tie the score at 7-7. The two teams then traded possession until right before the half.
Unfortunately for La Grange, they seemed to be wearing red and white instead of purple and gold. La Grange set up Columbus' next score when they were cited with a pass interference call. La Grange had held Columbus to fourth and eleven when the call was made on fourth down. To make matters worse, a personal foul of roughing the passer moved the ball even closer to the goal line for the Cardinals. This set up the Columbus touchdown from about the eight yard line. The score was then 7-14.
When La Grange did obtain possesion with little time left in the second quarter, they hoped to make the score even at 14-14; however, that was not to be the case. Instead their last play resulted in a pass interception and additional Columbus score. The Leopards went into the locker room trailing Columbus 21-7.
However, when La Grange came out to play for the second half, they were definitely wearing all purple and gold. The Leopards received the second half kickoff and quickly converted their drive into a touchdown making the score 21-14. Possession traded hands between La Grange and Columbus. La Grange would go on to hold Columbus, continue to drive, and score--two more times. When the score was even at 21-21, thoughts of overtime crossed everyone's mind. Columbus did assist La Grange with a pass interference call of their own aiding La Grange to score their final touchdown.
The final score was La Grange 28 and Columbus 21. La Grange will host the Bellville Brahmas Friday, October 29. The matchup is expected to be another battle for both teams.
The Leopards hosted Bellville on Friday, October 29, and were quite the host during
the first half. Bellville scored 13 unanswered points in the first half during
the first quarter. La Grange moved the ball up and down the field, but could
not seem to capitalize on their efforts. Four pass interceptions and one fumble
turned the ball over to Bellville five times.
The Leopards left the field at half time trailing Bellville 13-0. But when
the leopards returned for the second half, the game soon became
reminiscent of the Columbus and Gonzales games. La Grange put together offensive
drives which resulted in 13 points. Having missed the PAT after the first
La Grange touchdown, fans were trying to decide if the Leopards would go for
the tie or the win after the second touchdown. It became quite apparent that
the Leopards were going for two. Tye G. passed to Brad K. over the left side
to make the score 14-13 La Grange. With approximately 5 minutes left in the
game, the Leopard defense was able to hold Bellville to maintain the 14-13
final score.
The victory assured La Grange a playoff spot, but what the Leopards did not
realize at that moment was that Columbus had beaten Giddings. The Leopards
victory over Bellville, and the Columbus victory over Giddings made La Grange
the District Champions out right regardless of the final district games' results.
La Grange will travel to Smithville to play the Tigers who must win to make the playoffs. La Grange doesn't need the win for the playoffs, but they want a 9-0 record. The results of the final district games will determine if La Grange goes Division I or II in the playoffs.
La Grange received the first half kickoff, and the first play from scrimmage
set the tone for the entire night. Tye G. ran over 70 yards to score on the
first play. It was an outstanding block which allowed Tye to slip passed
the last Smithville defender. Coach Valastro said, "Everyone made their block
and executed the play perfectly."
Smithville struggled moving the ball, but finally put together a nice offensive
drive to only have it snuffed out when Wade B. intercepted a pass around the
Leopard 20 and took it down 80 yards for the second La Grange touchdown. With
both pats being good, the score was La Grange 14 and Smithville 0.
Smithville did rally and put 6 up on the board when Brad K.'s punt was blocked after a high snap. La Grange would score again before the half making it 21-6 at halftime.
The second half was dominated by La Grange. La Grange secured a big enough lead to allow players the opportunity to play in other positions. Smithville would score again, but their two-point conversion failed. The final score was La Grange 35 and Smithville 12. Smithville had previously allowed only 67 points to be scored on them the entire season, but La Grange offense was able to execute their plan well.
With Bellville's victory over Columbus, La Grange goes into the playoffs as the
Divison II (small school) representative and will play the Caldwell Hornets in
Giddings on Friday, November 12, at 7:30 p.m. La Grange completes district play with
a 5-0 record and season play with an undefeated 9-0 mark.
After a community pep rally and send off, the La Grange Leopards travelled
to Giddings to take on the Caldwell Hornets for the Bi-District Championship.
La Grange fans were in full force with the visitor stands completely packed.
La Grange fans occupied nearly half of the home stands as well.
La Grange opened up the game with the first score. La Grange took the early lead in the game when the Leps drove 60 yards for the first points. Kenny U. scored on a run up the middle. Caldwell then answered a couple of drives later.
The second score came from Tye G. with a run of about 75 yards.
The Leps' defense then helped out by stopping the Hornets, and giving the
offense great field position. Tye G. then hooked up with his receiver
Keenan M. for another score. After missing the second PAT, Tye G. tossed
a two-point conversion to Wade B. in the back of the endzone.
After halftime, the Leps came out with a commanding lead. They scored two more times both on runs by Tye G. in the 3rd quarter. The JV then took the field led by Patrick H. A pass over the middle connected with Jonathan F. to obtain their first varsity first down. The JV completed several plays before the time expired. The game ended with a final score of 35-13.
To celebrate finishing the regular season undefeated, several Leopard players
either buzzed or shaved their heads. Head Coach Tony Valastro told the team he
would buzz his hair only if they went 10-0. The Leopards' win over Caldwell provided the 10-0 mark, and
Coach Valastro will lose his hair at the Friday, November 19
pep rally.
A related article was published in the Wednesday, November 17 edition of the
Austin American Statesman sports section.
The La Grange Leopards came up against their toughest defensive opponents,
the Waco Robinson Rockets on Friday, November 19 in the Class 3A Division
II Region III Area playoffs. The Leopards had come to be known as a second
half team, and it appeared they would need to hold up to that designation.
The first half ended with a La Grange touchdown pass from Tye G. to Wade B. The reception was an awesome effort in the back corner of the endzone. The PAT was good making the score tied at 7-7 right before the half. The Rockets had scored first during the first quarter.
The second half began with the Leps receiving the kickoff back on their own 15 yard line. The Leopards drove the ball methodically down to about the Robinson's 25. On first and ten and looking at the go ahead touchdown, a pass was intercepted. The Leopard defense would hold, and La Grange would regain possession on about their 20. Looking at driving the ball again down the field the Leopards' offensive drive began, but unfortunately for the Leps they would turn it over. Robinson took advantage of the turnover in Lep territory with a quick touchdown making the score 14-7. The Leps would regain the ball to attempt a comeback drive to only fumble again in Lep territory. The Rockets would respond yet another time with a touchdown play after being held to fourth and long. The score, 21-7.
The La Grange Leopards' strong character and determination allowed them to
return the favor with a touchdown and PAT of their own, making it 21-14.
The defense would hold the Rockets and the Leps would regain possession with
approximately 4:50 left in the game. The Leps drove the ball down to the
Robinson 30. Fans were visualizing a 22-21 come from behind victory, but
the Leps could not score or convert the first down. Robinson took possession
and maintained possession long enough to run out the clock.
The Leopards ended a spectacular season, and by all accounts were not beaten
by a better team; but were beaten by mistakes. The Leopards are looking
forward to next season with many returning starters, but will greatly miss
their seniors.
Click on the links below to access football-related sites that have current information regarding team scores, schedules, and rankings.
