Leps Beat Franklin in Preseason Scrimmage
In their second, and final, preseason scrimmage the La Grange Leopards put on quite a show.
Hosting the state’s preseason No. 4-ranked team in Class 3A, the Franklin Lions, the Leps won the first half of the scrimmage 21-14, which included a set number of reps between each team’s starters and reserves. Then in a live 12 minutes of play to conclude the scrimmage, the Leps again beat the Lions 21-14.
The entire night punctuated the preseason with a exclamation point, and sends the Leps into this week’s regular season opener against Navasota with a full head of steam.
“On the defensive side I thought we did a great job of preparation all week. I thought they were really focused, which is the sign of a cham-pionship football team,” said La Grange head coach Kyle Cooper. “Offensively we created some big plays. I thought we had some really nice hookups in the passing game ... Franklin is really physical but I thought we matched their physicality tonight ... We’re coming in a little heftier (on the offensive line compared to last year). They are getting better every day and they can be a really physically dominating offensive line.”
La Grange has a very senior- heavy team all around and that experience (nine returning starters back on offensive and nine on defense) really seemed to show in this scrimmage.
During that first half of the scrimmage, the Leps got a 45-yard touchdown run from quarterback Eli Gillum. Then a 55-yard run by Skip Holmes set up a six-yard touchdown pass from Ryder Klesel to Rogan Mihatsch. Later Edric Gants scored on a 42 yard touchdown run.
Koen Zbranek also had several catches for the Leps Thursday.
During the 12-minute portion of live play that concluded the scrimmage, La Grange’s Dillan Johnson ran for an 11yard touchdown and caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Gillum.
“I liked how focused we were,” Johnson said. “We’re dedicated in practice and ready for the season.”
Each time La Grange scored in that timed period, however, Franklin answered those La Grange scores.
But in the closing seconds of the scrimmage Klayton Michalka caught a pass from Gillum and scampered 70 yards for what would turn out to be the game-winning score.
Michalka is making the move from running back last year to receiver this season.
“I love it so much,” Michalka said of that switch. “I’m a little undersized for running through the holes. Now I get to run long, catch the ball and keep running – and that’s what I’m good at.”
Gio Luna was perfect on all six of his extra point tries for the Leps.
With the preseason in the books, the Leps can now turn their attention to this Friday’s opponent, Navasota, a team that went 8-4 last season and beat the Leps 65-27 in 2025.
“They are going to be explosive,” Cooper said of Navasota. “They are going to have some athletes on the field. I thought they did a really good job against us last year and the scoreboard showed it ... We played a good first half against them last year but we have to be ready to finish – start fast, finish strong. We’re a more mature football club. We are not the same team that played them last year. We need to limit explosive plays on their part and continue to create on our part and dominate the line of scrimmage.”