Louisville outlasts West Branch

The Warriors took advantage of key opportunities wasted by West Branch.

By ERIC HAMILTON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

BELOIT — In a game billed as a shootout between two high-powered spread offenses, it was defense and special teams that proved to be a difference Friday night at Clinton Heacock Stadium.

Despite forcing four Louisville turnovers and visiting the Leopards’ red zone five times, the West Branch offense had to settle for two field goals and a touchdown. Louisville meanwhile got into the end zone three times and took advantage of solid special teams play in earning a 23-13 victory.

“Our defense played pretty well tonight,” said Louisville coach Paul Farrah. “We held a high-powered offense to just one touchdown and forced them to kick field goals. We got some pressure on the quarterback and used good field position to get into the end zone.

“Being in some close games this season helped tonight when it was tight. Our kids knew what they needed to do in the fourth quarter to win.”

For the second straight week, West Branch wasted key opportunities on offense. Inside Louisville’s red zone five times, the Warriors scored two field goals and missed another two.

Speaking of records

It didn’t help that West Branch (4-1, 1-1 NBC) was forced to start several drives deep in its own territory, including two of its first three. A pair of Louisville punts were downed inside the Warriors’ 2-yard line.

The first such possession gave Louisville the edge early. Forced to punt from its own end zone, the snap sailed over the head of punter Bo Beegle and out of the end zone for a Leopards’ safety.

The next West Branch drive began at the 2 and, after a punt, Louisville capitalized on field position at midfield to increase its lead.

On the third play of the drive, quarterback Marc Seaman connected with Marc Adams for a 38-yard scoring toss to put the Leopards ahead 9-0 with 11:16 left in the second quarter.

A pair of Beegle field goals — one in the second quarter and another in the third — got West Branch to within 9-6 with 2:39 left in the third period.

But Louisville (3-2, 1-1), which used excellent kickoff returns by Clay Swigert to start in favorable field position, struck back. The Leopards needed just five plays to score, as Seaman and Adams hooked up again from 18 yards out. The point-after kick gave Louisville a 16-6 cushion heading to the fourth.

On the first drive of the fourth quarter, West Branch marched to the Louisville 13 after converting a fourth-and-1. But the drive stalled again, and the Warriors came away with no points after missing a field goal.

“We felt like we could still win the game heading into the fourth quarter and driving,” said West Branch coach Bob Altenhof. “We told the kids we were going to put it in that time, but we got stopped again and missed an easy field goal. If we score there, it’s a nailbiter.

“We played hard and were close. It was a close, hard-fought game for three quarters, but they got the better of us in the fourth. We were just one or two big plays away and running uphill all night.”

Louisville put the game out of reach in the fourth on a 1-yard plunge by Marcus Poyser, giving the Leopards’ a 23-6 lead with 3:05 remaining.

West Branch closed to 23-13 with 43 seconds left, but failed to recover the on-side kick.