Leps Stampede the Buffaloes 37-14

With the regular season reaching its halfway mark, the La Grange football team is flying high.

For the second consecutive week the Leopards recorded a dominating win over a historic rival.

Two weeks ago they beat Smithville by 60 in the 100th meeting between the two schools, and Friday the Leps beat the Buffaloes 37-14 in the 109th meeting between La Grange and Giddings.

“That’s not the score I wanted. I really wanted to beat the mess out of Giddings, but See it’s still beating them good and I’m happy about it,” said La Grange defensive lineman Luke Anderson.

“I feel like we’ve just been getting better every game,” said La Grange quarterback Eli Gillum who had touchdown runs of 63, 52, and 94 yards – all in the first half.

The 0-2 start to the season suddenly seems long ago, and the Leps are now 2-2, heading into a bye week before starting district play Oct. 9 at home, for homecoming against a winless Katy Harmony team.

“We played the top teams the first two games and we didn’t get blown out,” said La Grange defensive back/running back Howard Holmes. “The confidence has always been there, it was just about finishing the games. We were up at half, but it’s all about finishing – who wants it more.”

Friday the Leps jumped out to a 30-7 halftime lead and never looked back.

“I thought we played hard football,” said La Grange head coach Kyle Cooper. “We had some explosive plays. The defense gave up some field position but was a bend-don’t break type of thing. We had some great goal line stands. Overall it was a pretty good job executing the game plan.”

This was a contrast in styles, between a slow, methodical Slot-T Giddings offense and La Grange’s quickstrike attack that amassed 512 total yards.

And the Leps really had a lot of explosive plays in this one.

Gillum only needed eight carries to rush for a team-high 222 yards.

“That’s what Eli can do,” Cooper said. “When you have guys like that, that can create explosive plays and turn them into touchdowns – that’s huge.”

Gillum was also lethal through the air completing 13 of 17 passes for 153 yards and a 24-yard touchdown pass to Klayton Michalka.

Dillan Johnson ran for a 60-yard touchdown as part of his 126-yard rushing night.

The Leps have now won three consecutive matchups in this historic series, but last season Giddings did score 40 against the Leps.

This year’s 14 points we emblematic of the strides this defense as made.

“We’re disciplined and we’re playing really physical,” Anderson said.

“I’m really proud of those guys,” Cooper said of that defense. “We’re beat up right now, and we have a lot of guys stepping up. We have eight guys that were either starters or we thought would be starters that are out right now.”

Giddings touchdowns came on a 59-yard touchdown from Zaybryn Barrera to Colden Adams and a seven-yard run from Iris-Wade Allen. The Buffaloes are now 3-2 after going 2-8 last season.

The final score might have been more lopsided but two Leps drives in the second half ended in turnovers.

Now it’s on to the open week for the Leps and then district play.

“I’m glad we’re getting to an open week, get a few guys healthy,” Cooper said. “I’m happy with where we are at but we have a long way to go. We’ve got plenty of things to work on.”