Leps Look Sharp, Outscore Yoakum 18-7 in Scrimmage

Because of the pandemic, La Grange only had one preseason football scrimmage this season.

So the Leps had to make Friday’s matchup with Yoakum count.

And La Grange did so, looking pretty sharp, staying healthy and dominating the Bulldogs most of the night. The Leps outscored Yoakum two touchdowns to none in the 40-play opening portion of the scrimmage.

Then after a scoreless live quarter of action, each team scored a touchdown in a overtime simulation. Yoakum made their extra point, La Grange didn’t.

So if you’re scoring at home it was Leps 18, Yoakum 7.

“We’re not anywhere near where we need to be, but it’s a good start,” said La Grange head coach Matt Kates. “We moved the football pretty well, but put it on the ground twice ... I was proud of the way the defense flew around.

“We’re seven days away from kicking it off (the season opener is 7:30 p.m. this Friday at home against Rockdale) and you feel the juices flowing.”

The Leps, even though they kept their scrimmage playcalling simple, still showed the Rockdale coaches plenty to worry about.

Senior running back D.J. Taylor took his first carry of the scrimmage 65 yards for a touchdown.

“This year we have a lot of weapons,” Taylor said.

Later in the scrimmage La Grange’s Jakobe Wilkerson also scored on a 65-yard touchdown.

Caden Cooper and Clay Wolff played most of the snaps at quarterback, with Matthew Johnson getting a handful of carries, though he is expected to see more time at quarterback against Rockdale.

In the overtime period, a 17- yard Cooper to Bravion Rogers pass set up a four-yard touchdown run by Ryder Imhoff to complete the night’s scoring.

Now the Leps are less than a week away from something many people thought wouldn’t be possible – actually playing high school football games this fall.

“I’m glad we got these in,” said Taylor as he pointed to a clear face shield on his helmet. “Now we don’t have to wear masks under out helmet. There’s a lot of things we have to do now so we can be out here.”

But they say it’s worth it.

“We want to play football and it can be done,” Kates said. “That’s what the 4As, 3As, 2As, 1As are showing the rest of America, that you can play football and you can do it right, and keep kids safe if you are doing it right.”

“We want to play football and it can be done. That’s what the 4As, 3As, 2As, 1As are showing the rest of America, that you can play football and you can do it right, and keep kids safe if you are doing it right.”

– La Grange head football coach Matt Kates