Leps Tangle With El Campo in First Scrimmage
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Ethan Prasek would turn this catch into the Leps’ only touchdown Friday. Photo by Darrell D. Gest -
Receiver Ethan Prasek, left, and quarterback Quade Brothers celebrate their touchdown. Photo by Darrell D. Gest -
La Grange’s Dillan Johnson tries to get away from this El Campo tackler in Friday’s scrimmage. Photo by Darrell D. Gest
Leopard football fans looking for things to be excited about found plenty to cheer for in Friday’s first preseason scrimmage by La Grange.
After some early struggles against a big El Campo squad, both the La Grange offense and defense got better as the scrimmage went on.
Officially El Campo outscored the Leps 14-7 in the controlled back-and-forth section of the scrimmage where the teams alternated 10-play possessions of starters vs. starters and back-ups vs. back-ups.
La Grange’s lone score came on a 50-yard touchdown pass from back-up quarterback Quade Brothers to receiver Ethan Prasek, who broke several tackles to get into the endzone.
Aaron Torres added the extra point for the Leps.
Then in a live 12-minute quarter of play, the teams tied 0-0.
“Our kids didn’t panic early. El Campo had some success early and our kids stayed the course.
“As the game went on I thought we got stronger and stronger, which is something we preach – finish strong. That’s why we lift the way we do.
“Defensively we’re doing some new stuff, some different stuff, and it’s going to be new for all of us. I thought our kids were relentless and gritty tonight.”
Friday marked the debut of new Leps starting quarterback Eli Gillum, a junior.
He showcased some impressive runs in the scrimmage, but was also limited by the officials’ quick whistles in the preseason contest.
“We did pretty good, but we will just keep getting better and better. I thought the defense did really good tonight,” Gillum said.
“He’s a weapon,” Cooper said of Gillum. “He gets on you so fast. He’s like an electric car, 0-60 really fast. We limited what he did tonight, but he’s going to be really good. I thought he threw some really good balls and I thought Brothers looked good too, managing their team and putting together some drives.”
Here’s some other things that stood out Friday night:
• Junior Dillan Johnson had several big runs and catches. Jeffrey Cabrera also had several nice runs for the starters.
• Other passes were caught by Oliver Gunn, Mason Kleiber, Ryder Price and Dwodney Thompson
• Junior linebacker Cason Conrad had two tackles for losses.
• Junior Colt Jobb boomed a pair of punts, one a 50+ yarder into the endzone and one that, with the roll, was a 70-yarder.
• Junior Chris Supak recovered a fumble.
All in all, it was a strong start for the Leps, who head to Franklin Thursday for their second scrimmage before going to Cameron for the season opener Aug. 29.