Leesville cruises to comfortable victory at Buckeye, 42-7

DEVILLE – The Buckeye Panthers hosted the Leesville Wampus Cats in the annual Squirrel Bowl, an annual tradition where the Buckeye football game is moved to Thursday in accordance with the opening of hunting season for squirrels in Louisiana.

The game also doubled as the District 3-4A opener for these two teams and Leesville made a big statement by handing Buckeye a 42-7 home loss.

Leesville scored quickly and often, holding a 28-0 lead at halftime.

Buckeye was without their star running back Austin Daily who left the game on the Panthers first offensive drive with an apparent concussion.

The Wampus Cats continued to control the game in the second half, adding a 15-yard touchdown run by Dante Gallashaw in the third quarter and a four yard touchdown run by Jalen Shepherd in the fourth quarter.

Buckeye was able to avoid the shutout late thank to a 15-yard run by Justin Belgard.

SCORING SUMMARY
LHS 14 14 7 7 — 42
BHS 0 0 0 7 — 7

NOTABLE
Buckeye senior running back left the game and did not return after a concussion in the first quarter. Daily was the second leading rusher in central Louisiana through five regular season weeks.

Leesville had 333 offensive yards compared to only 203 for Buckeye.

Leesville had nine penalties for 45 yards while Buckeye had only two penalties for 12 yards.

Buckeye dominated the time of possession in the loss, holding the ball for 30:49 of the 48 minute game.

The Wampus Cats had 19 first downs compared to 14 for Buckeye.

TOP PERFORMERS
Leesville
Chris Vargas (9/15, 125 yards, 2 total TDs)
Dante Gallashaw (seven carries, 56 yards, 1 TD)
Andrew Croker (three catches, 74 yards, 1 TD)

Buckeye
Tory Carman (20 carries, 62 yards, 1/3, 13 yards, 1 INT)
Justin Belgard (four carries, 26 yards, 1 TD)
Lane Jenkins (11 carries, 29 yards)

THEY SAID IT
Leesville junior quarterback Chris Vargas
“We came in knowing we needed to bounce back after last week’s loss to Rayne. We know we are the type of team that can bounce back and we have the talent to do so and that’s what we did. It feels good to open district with a win. I believe in my teammates and we have great coaches that push us every day.”

Leesville head coach Robbie Causey
“It was a hard fought victory. We know that anytime you come to Buckeye it’s gonna be a tough game with what they do. They are very physical up front on both sides of the ball and they are so efficient in running the triple option. It is hard to replicate that offense in practice in the live speed in which they run it so that had me worried. We were coming off a hard fought loss last week and how we would handle it plus the short week this week with the fair in town. You know how teenagers are when it is fair week, you aren’t sure how they will handle it. Every week is different. Your opponent is different, your preparation is different, the matchups are different. I tell them all the time it’s not what you have done it’s what you are going to do so we need to put this win in our back pocket and start getting your mind right for the next one.”

Buckeye head coach Jonathan Landry
“We could have held onto the ball better and sustained some drives. We knew they would be explosive on offense and we would have some trouble covering the pass but our kids fought hard but we just didn’t execute well. We aren’t sure the extent of Austin Daily’s injury yet. He left the game and went to the emergency room to get a CT scan done. That was definitely a big blow because he has been our workhorse this season rushing for over 700 yards and we lost him on the first drive. It hurt us offensively and also hurt us defensively because we had to put our middle linebacker at fullback. None of that matters though and we hope and pray that he is OK and hopefully we will get a good report on him.

NEXT WEEK
Leesville (4-1) will be on the road facing Grant while Buckeye will also be on the road against West Ouachita (3-3).