A Conversation With Our Leopard Football Cover Guys

Our 24-page football special section will be included free in Tuesday’s newspaper, just three days before the exciting start of the new regular season.

Schulenburg and Flatonia have new coaches, while La Grange looks to take another step forward after three consecutive years of first-round playoff exits.

Our cover guys this year are all players who had big seasons last year, and we’re expecting even bigger things from in 2025.

They are:

• Flatonia’s Kevin Ramirez and Caysen Perez

• Schulenburg’s Jayvan Luhrs and Jayse Janda

• And La Grange’s Dillan Johnson, Oliver Gunn and Dwodney Thompson.

As we were photographing our La Grange cover trio, we chatted with all three about their expectations for the coming season.

We’re proud to honor these cover guys – La Grange’s Dillan Johnson, Oliver Gunn and Dwodney Thompson as this week’s Athletes of the Week.

Here’s some highlights from our interview with them: Three short years ago, Oliver Gunn was the only freshmen who made the 2022 Leps varsity.

Now a senior, he’s a captain who has grown in a lot of ways.

“A big thing was physical growth. My freshman year I was 185 pounds, now I’m at 240 but I think the biggest thing is my mental growth,” Gunn said. “The game has really slowed down. I was freaking out not knowing where to be my freshman year but I got through that, and things have gotten slower and slower, allowing me to play faster.”

Gunn will be a two-way starter for the Leps, playing at defensive end and tight end. He was an all-district defensive end last year.

Junior Dwodney Thompson is expected to be another two way starter for the Leps – starting at wide receiver and safety.

“I’m excited to try both sides,” Thompson said. “We’ve had a lot of people step up this year. We’re really locked in. We have a chance to go far.”

Thompson is soft-spoken off the field, but he does his talking on the field.

He really made a name for himself last year as a return man, running back several kicks/punts and for touchdowns.

Thompson was an all-district receiver and return specialist last year.

Junior Dillan Johnson was an all-district receiver last year, and this year he will be a swiss-army knife on offense for the Leps.

Depending on the situation Johnson will play receiver, running back and maybe even a little quarterback for the Leps.

“I’m excited for this season. We worked really hard this offseason,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a young team, new faces. I’m excited to see what this season holds.”

All three are thinking this is the year the Leps can win their first playoff game since 2021.

“We’re starving,” Gunn said of the Leps’ hunger to write their own postseason legacy, amidst a season in which the program will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first football title (1975) and the 25th anniversary of their most recent title (2000). “It’s been too long.”

Fayette County Football 2025