Leopards Fall To Struthers In Season Opener

August 25, 2017 by Brian Whan

For the third-consecutive season, the Leopards fell to the Struthers Wildcats to open a season.

Struthers used a solid ground attack led by Willie Mitchell who accounted for 96 of the Wildcats 209 rushing yards to walk out Leopard Stadium with a 41-8 victory.

The Leopards showed promise early on on the games opening drive only to have a blocked punt set Struthers up with good field position. The Wildcats took advantage as quarterback JD Hall, who completed 5 of his 9 passes for 77 yards, called his own number and capped off a 3-play, 34-yard scoring drive to give the Wildcats an early 8-0 lead.

Struthers would strike again midway through the second quarter as Mitchell scored the first of his two touchdowns as the Wildcats took a 14-0 lead into the half.

The Wildcats would take advantage of a slew of Liberty turnovers in the third quarter as they opened up 34-0 lead.

The Leopards would get on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter as quarterback Dra Rushton found the end zone on a keeper from 65 yards out.

Rushton, who led the Leopards with 79 yards on the ground on 10 carries also accounted for 32 passing yards on 5-12 passing.

Leading the way for Liberty on defense was Chris Edmonds who accounted for 14 tackles.

The Leopards, who fell to 0-1 on the young season, will travel to Cortland next Friday to take on Lakeview.

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