A Leesville player is engulfed by Apex
Sep 5, 2008
The Leesville Road Pride struck first, last, and every time in between Thursday night when the Apex Cougars came to Raleigh, and if there were any doubts about the Pride's ability to compete, most of them were erased.
"It was an overall debacle," Apex head coach Bob Wolfe said of their shutout loss to Leesville Road.
Cameron Todd caught the first touchdown pass of the night from Jake Groeschen with 4:18 left in the first quarter, and the Pride held the 7-0 lead at the end of the quarter.
In the second quarter, Groeschen took it 30-yards on the ground to set up the 41-yard field goal by Taylor Bucklin to push the Pride's lead to ten.
It was the defense's turn to take over.
Brad Mooney picked off Apex's Houston Hawley, and he returned it 31-yards for the score. Leesville Road was flagged after the score, though, for a late hit. The 15-yard penalty meant the extra point would have to be attempted from the 18-yard line. The extra length was not a problem for Bucklin, and Leesville Road's lead grew to 17-0.
The Cougars had some flashes of promise after the interception. Brandon Carr fielded the Leesville Road kick off at the 19-yard line, and he returned it all the way to the Leesville Road 36. The offense had trouble finding its groove all night, though, and the drive stalled.
Apex was faced with a fourth down, and they needed to pick up a little over four-yards. When Hawley looks to Carr for the first down, Mooney batted down the pass.
Leesville Road took over on their own 26-yard line.
The Apex defense was able to stop Leesville Road on a few possessions, and after the Pride punted the ball, Apex had a shot to get some points on the board before the half.
Hawley looked to the air on the last play of the game, throwing into the end zone. Leesville Road's Ryan Mangum was there to pick off the pass, though, and he was on the verge of taking it 100-yards to the opposite end zone before the Cougars finally tripped him up.
The Pride had the big 17-0 advantage at the break, and it didn't get any better for Apex after that.
With about 7-minutes left in the third quarter, Zach Gentry went straight up the middle for 38-yards. After a few penalties, Leesville faced third down and 22-yards to go. Groeschen managed to find a man down field, and it set up a 36-yard field goal for Bucklin.
After the Pride stopped the Apex kick off return on the Cougars' 13-yard line, Gentry delivered a hard hit to Carr as he attempted to catch a pass from Hawley, and the power of the hit was enough to knock the ball loose. Mangum was there for Leesville Road to catch the ball before it fell to the ground.
The interception didn't lead to any points, in fact, the Pride turned the ball over on downs. But on the first play from scrimmage for the Cougars, Gentry picked off Hawley, giving the Pride offense the ball again.
The offense stalled, running the ball on the first two downs and passing on the third, and Leesville punted the ball away.
The Cougars wouldn't have the ball much longer, though. On the first play of the series, Hawley was picked off again, this time by Todd. The senior took it about 50-yards for the Pride's final score.
There was a bad snap on the point-after attempt, but it wouldn't matter. Leesville Road makes a statement, shutting out Apex 26-0.
"I just think we got out-executed in every phase of the game," Wolfe said, "If we're doing our part in the game, then we don't have the turnovers."
In the second half, the Apex defense had success getting to Groeschen a few times. Leesville Road head coach David Green said it was a problem, but added, "We'll fix it."
"They do a good job, though," Green said, "Apex gets after you pretty good. The coaches over there are tremendous."
What did Green think about his team's defensive effort?
"They made plays. They made plays," he said. "Our guys were aggressive. That's they key on defense."
The Pride will travel to Cary next week to take on the Green Hope Falcons. Meanwhile, Apex will have the week off. Apex's road doesn't get any easier the following week, though. The Cougars will have to travel back to Raleigh to take on another Cap-Seven power in Millbrook.
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