By MIKE McLAIN

sports@vindy.com

CANFIELD

It was like a night at The Improv for the Louisville Leopards.

Facing fourth-and-10 at their 45 and trailing the Canfield Cardinals by three points late in the fourth quarter, the Leopards needed to be creative. When the called play broke down, quarterback Brody Hahn scrambled to his left and released a pass barely before crossing the line of scrimmage. The ball was on target to streaking senior Tyler Adams, who made the catch near the Cardinals’ 45 and broke loose for a 55-yard touchdown.

Louisville stopped a scoring threat by Canfield in the final seconds and held on for a 21-17 win in the season opener here Friday at Bob Dove Field.

The Hahn-to-Adams combination clicked most of the night. Hahn, who was 22-of-38 for 276 yards and two interceptions, connected with the talented Adams 10 times for 153 yards and two touchdowns. The game-winning score was the perfect execution of the scramble drill, which kicks in when the called play fails to materialize.

“We work on the scramble drill because our quarterback does a pretty good job of eluding guys,” Leopards coach John Demarco said. “When he goes one place, we have certain spots where we get to on the field. We practice trying to find our quarterback as he moves around.”

It was a bitter way to end the game for the Cardinals, who have lost five straight season openers to the Leopards. Canfield led 17-7 at halftime and was able to control Adams while limiting featured running back Gavin Vanzant to 2 yards in the first 24 minutes.

“Penalties killed us in the second half and we couldn’t sustain any drives,” Cardinals coach Mike Pavlansky said. “We left our defense on the field a couple drives too long. Our kids gave a great effort.”

The Leopards were the fresher team in the second half. While numerous Canfield players went down with cramps on the humid night, Louisville was injury-free. The wear and tear of the game led to a run of penalties against the Cardinals, who were penalized 11 times for 72 yards.

“Obviously I made a mistake in our conditioning routine,” Pavlansky said. “We have to condition a little bit more.”

The Cardinals had just two first downs in the second half and six for the game, compared to 18 for the Leopards. Winning the battle of field position, Louisville cut Canfield’s lead to 17-14 when Hahn found Adams wide open in the end zone on a 41-yard scoring play at the 7:20 mark of the fourth quarter. The point-after kick by Hannah Baughman was good.

Penalties on three consecutive plays forced Canfield to punt from its 17 on the next series. Louisville went three-and-out, but Canfield wasn’t able to register a first down on its next possession.

The Leopards regained possession at their 45 with 3:24 to play. Four plays later Hahn and Adams worked their magic.

The Cardinals advanced to the Leopards’ 23 on a 43-yard pass from running back Paul Breinz to Paul French on their final drive. Breinz took a handoff on a jet sweep before finding French open.

An incompletion by Canfield quarterback Jake Cummings was followed by a 6-yard run by Cummings. Cummings then threw two straight incomplete passes.

Cummings, who gained 70 yards on 21 carries, opened the scoring on a 31-yard scramble at the 7:30 mark of the first quarter. Ian Kristan kicked the extra point. The touchdown was set up when Will Dawson intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 25 yards to the Leopards’ 29.

Hahn scored on a 1-yard sneak in the second period. Baughman’s point-after kick tied the score.

Cummings ran 2 yards for a touchdown, and Kristan kicked a 19-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to give Canfield a 17-7 lead.

“Our defense played lights out,” Pavlansky said. “There are certainly a lot of things we can correct offensively.”