Team speed

key for Leopards

11/7/2008

By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

Ness-Dighton head football coach Faron Kraft, a veteran football coach in Kansas and Nebraska, has a unique name for the La Crosse football team.

"I call them a great exception to high school football because they have more speed than I have ever seen on one team," Kraft said. "They are amazing."

Team speed, the fulcrum for the Leopards' high-octane offense, has created a powerhouse. La Crosse (10-0) has averaged 51.7 points per game, the No. 1 offense in 11-man football. Olpe is the only one of 48 Class 2-1A squads that has scored within 72 points of the Leopards.

La Crosse, ranked No. 2 in Class 2-1A in the statewide media poll, will travel to No. 5 St. Francis for a regional final Saturday. Game time is 6 p.m.

"That is probably the biggest thing is just how fast they are, just how quick they get to the football and they present problems for you defensively," St. Francis head coach Tim Lambert said. "Very good football team."

La Crosse has crushed every team on its schedule, winning by an average of 52-11. They've faced a weaker schedule than most teams, ranking No. 20 in Class 2-1A in by Kenneth Massey, a statistician who ranks pro, college and prep teams at masseyratings.com (St. Francis stands fourth).

Yet when La Crosse has faced a strong squad, the Leopards haven't dropped off. In Week 9, they defeated Meade 51-7, previously 7-0 and ranked in the state. In the first round of the postseason, La Crosse crushed Johnson-Stanton County 55-6.

That speed and skill players will prove critical against St. Francis, one of the top 2-1A squads for many years.

"When we go up against St. Francis or Oakley or Ellis or Smith Center, whenever we go up against those guys, Meade, we are undersized and we know it," La Crosse head coach Ryan Cornelsen said before the playoffs. "We are going to have play with a lot of heart and a lot of desire. We call it Leopard pride and it means a lot for our kids."

La Crosse is 31-2 in the last three years with its only losses to Oakley in the second round last season. In 2006, La Crosse won its first regional championship since 1979 and advanced to the third round before it lost to eventual state champion Smith Center. This year's team has less experience on the line, but veteran talent at the skill positions.

"We have had to change some of the stuff we do," Cornelsen said.

"We can't be as smashmouth as we have been. We are more try to balance it out and try to put our skill guys in the open field. The offense that they are running now is quite a bit different they are running as freshmen and sophomores. It's based around their talents."

This year's team has outscored those two squads that averaged 45 and 41.6 points, respectively. Helped by daily lateral speed and quickness workouts the Leopards have in weights class and at the beginning of practice, La Crosse's speed has been difficult to slow down.

"(Coach Cornelsen) finds a way to get the ball in his best players' hands and that's what makes a difference, They just had way too many weapons for us. We didn't have six, seven guys with the speed they got. That is a special team at La Crosse this year," Kraft said.

La Crosse is led by senior running back Marshall Musil, a University of Oklahoma signee. Lambert, the St. Francis coach for 16 years, groups Musil with Atwood's Jeff Horinek, currently at Colorado State University, and Goodland's Jordan Bedore, a Kansas State University lineman, as some of western Kansas' top players.

"I think he it is very possible that he one of the best athletes that we have seen out here," Lambert said.

Musil has averaged 14.1 yards per carry and has collected 1,067 rushing yards, the first time he has surpassed 1,000 as a Leopard. Overall, on just 100 touches, he has 1,480 total yards, 26 touchdowns and 70 tackles, all team bests. Sophomore running back Marcus Moeder has 885 rushing yards and 12 TDs in a balanced offense.

"Our offense is based on what makes us the best possible team," Cornelsen said. "If we give Marshall the ball 25-30 carries a game all year long, people are going to key that. It makes our blocking schemes a lot tougher to defend if we can stay balanced."

Senior quarterback Jeremy Garcia has 1,096 passing yards and a 19-7 touchdown-interception ratio.

"We do quite a bit of screens, short passes, we'll try to do down the stretch," Cornelsen said.

St. Francis, which had trouble with Norton quarterback Connor Pfannenstiel's passing in a 36-16 Week 5 loss, will try to contain the Leopards' passing game with defensive backs Trent Raile, Matt Raile, Trent Kinen and Alex Long.

"We try to keep everyone in front of you and not give up the big play and tackle," Lambert said. "If you can tackle and keep everyone in front of you, then they have to work hard to score on you if it takes 10-11 plays to score. Chances are they may make a mistake. That is what you hope for."