TURNER — The Leavitt Hornets must be feeling pretty good about themselves after beating a scrappy Yarmouth team that doesn’t take no for an answer.
Leavitt founded itself backed into a corner on several occasions, but successfully repelled the stubborn Clippers’ advances before marching off with a 20-12 victory in a Campbell Conference football game at Libbey Field on a fall-like Friday night.
The turnovers and missed opportunities will have to wait for game-film day when some Leavitt players might draw the ire and cold stares from Leavitt Mike Hathaway next week. But for now, the Hornets can celebrate their first victory of the season.
The Hornets held a 14-0 lead well into the second quarter before the Clippers started punching holes in Leavitt’s defensive line. That didn’t make Hathaway happy even though his Hornets toughed it out for a victory.
“We were not as consistent as we needed to be. So that’s where we have some work to do,” Hathaway said. “Defensively, I thought we gave up too much on the ground, and offensively, we hurt ourselves with some penalties and turnovers.
“They (Clippers) made a good stop on the fourth-and-five down there. That was a big one; that might have sealed it. But our defense did a nice job of getting the ball back for us. That was hard fought to the end. They played well. Hats off to them.”
The Clippers got within striking distance when they scored in the middle of the third quarter. After a long drive to the 19-yard line, quarterback John Thoma reeled off touchdown pass to Jack Snyder. The conversion failed, but the Hornets were dearly holding on to 14-12 lead, and there was still plenty of time left for the Clippers to score again.
Leavitt could have sealed it early in the fourth quarter, but Levi Craig’s pass to Mitchell Davis was incomplete, giving the stubborn Clippers another chance to score.
But the Hornets’ defense stepped it up in the fourth quarter and staved off the Clippers. And when Leavitt got the ball back, the Hornets fought their way to the 22 and scored when Craig connected with Gabe Seeley for a touchdown, giving the Hornets some breathing room.
“We have a young, young football team,” Hathaway said. “So Yarmouth is a good team. They don’t have a lot of guys, but their guys played hard. They are smart, well coached. We knew it would be tough so we are happy we got a win.”
In the first quarter, the Hornets didn’t waste any time when they jumped into a hurry-up offense. Leavitt drove and passed its way from the 30-yard line to the 7 when Craig reeled off TD pass Mitchel Davis. Craig shoved his way into the end zone on the conversion to make it an 8-0 game.
The Hornets turned to Craig again when they got ball to the 21-yard line. The junior quarterback found Max Green open for the touchdown.
Yarmouth regrouped on the next possession and scrambled from the 13-yard line to the 37 when Jack Snyder bobbed and weaved to the end zone, giving the Hornets a wake-up call.
“I am very happy with them. They played a great game,” Yarmouth coach Jason Veilleux said. “We are all juniors for the most part so we are a strong team. Leavitt is a solid team. They are good.”
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