LeBlond punches ticket to state title game
Nov. 26—Bishop LeBlond High School advanced to the school's first 8-man football state championship game with a 44-22 semifinal win Saturday in Sweet Springs, Missouri.
The Golden Eagles improved to 10-3 and will play Thursday night for the state title against North Andrew, a team that beat LeBlond in week two.
"It's incredible," head coach Chuck Davis said after game. "I don't have the words to describe how proud I am of this group of guys from freshmen all the way up to seniors."
The Golden Eagles jumped to a 30-14 halftime lead against the Greyhounds behind three touchdowns from senior wide receiver Jake Korell. Quarterback Landon Gardner hit Korell with a nine-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring. Korell then scored on end-around runs of 38 and 11 yards for the Golden Eagles.
LeBlond took control midway through the third quarter on Gardner's five-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Winkelbauer on fourth down. The play, which extended the LeBlond's lead to 36-14, was set up by a 52-yard pass from Gardner to Korell.
Gardner finished with 304 yards passing and four touchdown passes. Korell had five catches for 128 yards receiving. With Gardner as quarterback, LeBlond has recorded 51 touchdown passes this season.
Gardner called the trip to the state title game "surreal."
"It means everything," he said. "We've maximized our season and not many teams can say they did that. So that's just a great thing for me and my brothers."
Both Gardner and Davis said LeBlond has made big improvements since losing 64-36 against North Andrew's power running game in week two. North Andrew beat Archie 60-22 on Friday night.
"The level of physicality we play with has improved a ton," Davis said. "We're a different team than we were earlier in the season."
The championship game will be at 7 p.m. Thursday at Faurot Field in Columbia.
Greg Kozol can be reached at greg.kozol@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NPNowKozol.
