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By PAUL BEITLER
Sports Editor
Making blocks and following blocks paved the way for a dominating Southern Wells Raiders’ 26-14 victory over the Leo Lions Friday night in Allen County Athletic Conference football action at Carnes Field.
Delighting their homecoming fans, the Raiders rolled to their fourth straight win without a loss.
Junior halfback Jacob Miller rushed for 114 yards and two touchdowns, while junior fullback Tyler Roush returned to the lineup and added 102 yards. Senior halfback Devin Leas piled on 79 yards and Jake Ripperger 48. All in all, the Raiders’ rushing attack pounded the Lions for 352 yards on 59 plays.
Southern Wells ate up over 31 minutes of playing time with its Wishbone offense, leaving the Lions only enough possession time to net 118 yards total offense.
“I’m really pleased with the offensive linemen and the backs,” said Raiders’ head coach Mark Lefebvre, who picked up his 99th win. “They were physical for each other. The backs blocked for each other all night long and we were really able to control the football.”
Miller scored his touchdowns in the third quarter after Leo trimmed the Raiders’ 13-0 halftime lead with a second-half opening touchdown that was set up by Connor Kacsor’s 89-yard kickoff return.
Miller gave credit to his offensive line.
“Our center (Aaron Potter) did a very good job blocking (Nick Woods) and our left guard (Brandon Biberstine) and left tackle (Chase Harris) opened up holes for the ‘iso’ pretty much the whole second half,” said Miller.
Right guard Skye Bower and right tackle Alex Fiock were on the other side of the line adding to the Raiders’ juggernaut.
Leas and Ripperger gave the Raiders their first-half lead.
“Having a runner like Devin to spread the defense and having a power runner like “Buck” (Tyler Roush) just opens up holes for our different style runners,” said Miller.
“It’s nice to have that balance in the running game that we can go left or right. We can run sweep, we can run power. People talk about stretching the field with the passing game, well we’re trying to do the same thing in the running game,” said Lefebvre.
Lefebvre also praised his defense for making it hard for the Lions (2-2, 1-1 ACAC) to run or pass.
“Their quarterbacks were under pressure the whole first half and had a hard time having any time to throw the ball. We did a great job rushing,’’ said Lefebvre. “I thought we controlled the game most of the time.
“They’ve got some young kids who are pretty explosive athletes in the open field and if they don’t have the ball it’s hard for them to score,” Lefebvre added.
Leo scored its second touchdown with 9:50 to go in the game on a one-yard run by Zach Stilson.
However, the Raiders held the ball for over 7 minutes before giving the ball back to Leo with 2:11 remaining.
An interception by Roush with 1:59 left sealed the win as the Raiders ran out the clock.
Southern Wells takes its 2-0 ACAC record to Woodlan next Friday for another big game.
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