LMS football ends season on strong note

Louisburg Middle School seventh-grader Elijah Johnson hurdles a Eudora player during the Wildcats’ season finale Tuesday at Wildcat Stadium. The seventh-grade team finished the year with a 6-1 record.

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The Louisburg Middle School seventh-grade football team had a chance to have a little fun in its final game of the season.

The Wildcats piled up 30 points in the first half Tuesday in their final home game against Eudora and they never looked back. Louisburg went on to win 30-8 over the Cardinals to finish their season with a 6-1 record.

Following their 30-point outburst, Louisburg had a chance to play its reserves for much of the second half and Louisburg coach Kyle Wright saw a lot of positives from everyone during this game and the season.

“Overall, I am very proud of the boys for an outstanding season,” Louisburg coach Kyle Wright said. “This is a hard working group with some talent that also is coachable as they listen and always want to improve and keep getting better. The results on the field reflected that as we had a lot of success and kept getting better each week.”

Louisburg opened the game with a score on its first possession when Elijah Johnson took the snap from center and found Ben Wiedenmann for a long touchdown pass to put the Wildcats up 6-0.

Kicker Luke Dudzik then went for onside kick on the ensuing kickoff and teammate Justin Colllins recovered to give Louisburg the ball back.

The Wildcats drove the ball down the field and it ended with a 2-yard touchdown run from Johnson. Quarterback Dawson Barnes then found Johnson for the 2-point conversion and a 14-0 lead.

In the second quarter, Johnson had his second rushing touchdown of the day on a 15-yard run. Louisburg got Braden Aiken involved for the 2-point conversion as the normal lineman took the handoff and barreled in the endzone for the conversion.

Louisburg’s defense came up big late in the first half when Jay Scollin recovered a fumble to set the Wildcats up with good field position.

All it took was one play for Louisburg to score as Johnson rumbled for a 31-yard touchdown run. Barnes ran in the 2-point conversion to complete the Wildcat scoring.

It was a good way to end the season after the Wildcats suffered their only loss of the season the week before against Baldwin. Louisburg an early lead, but it eventually fell 22-20 on a furious comeback by the Bulldogs.

Despite the loss, the Wildcats finished with a strong season and ended on a high note.

“I’m excited to see what this group can do in the future because they have a lot of potential if they continue to work hard and dedicate themselves to being athletes,” Wright said.

 

Eighth-grade team shines in finale

The LMS eighth-grade football team also had quite a bit of fun in its last game of the season as it traveled to Eudora on Tuesday.

The Wildcats racked up several touchdowns on their way to a 54-0 victory over the Cardinals. The win also gave Louisburg a winning season as it finished with a 4-3 record after going 1-6 a year ago.

“This team deserved to have some success,” Louisburg coach Brian Keegan said. “We had some athletes step up this year that did not contribute as seventh graders. We stayed healthy and kept our focus. This was a fun year. We all wanted to go undefeated, but bouncing back after last year’s season is a great feat. These boys will be a fun group to watch in high school.”

It was a team effort for the Wildcats in their season finale.

Running back Charlie Koontz recorded three touchdowns and each of those were more than 45 yards. Fellow running back Dallas Newberry also finished with a pair of scores, including a 75-yard touchdown run.

Quarterback Madden Rutherford found a way to score through the air as he hit receiver Michael Waldron for a 45-yard touchdown pass.

Rutherford wasn’t done either as he returned a punt 45 yards for a touchdown, and he also had a 65-yard quarterback keeper for a score. Dalton Hilt also added several 2-point conversions for the Wildcats.

On defense, Waldron and Andrew Krause recorded interceptions for Louisburg. The Wildcats also controlled the line of scrimmage thanks to the play of Drake Varns, Hunter Millbern, Collin Hamilton, Garrett Harding, Tyler Bussard and Brayden White, holding Eudora to four first downs.

“The kids did a great job of putting everything together for their final game of the season,” Keegan said. “I could not be prouder of how they responded to adversity and challenges that they encountered during the season.”