Gainesville —
Friday’s game against Decatur will be a day of firsts for the Gainesville Leopards.
It’s their first home game of 2010.
It’s also their first game ever at the new Leopard Stadium.
And hopefully for Gainesville (0-1) when the clock strikes zero in the fourth quarter, it will be the first win for the 2010 Leopards at Leopard Stadium and the first win for coach Lance Gary’s career.
“It’s going to be a tough game as far as getting our mental mistakes out of there and execute like we did in the second half (against Paris),” Gary said. “There will be some added excitement for both sides and it’s going to be a big game.”
The Leopards are coming off a thrilling loss to Paris, who also opened their new Wildcat Stadium in the season opener last week.
Down 14-0 at halftime, adjustments were made in the second stanza and Gainesville mounted a rally that came up just short in a 27-24 loss to the Wildcats.
“I definitely think there is added excitement, and for Paris, it was a big deal for them,” Gary said in retrospect. “It’s going to be a big deal for us. Against Paris, we had a mindset of (winnng their grand opening). As close as we came to doing that, we didn’t get it done. With the tradition behind the Decatur-Gainesville game, I know Decatur’s is going to come in here and have that added enthusiasm and intensity and try to do the same thing we tried to do to Paris.”
Despite rushing for nearly 400 yards as a team with a couple of 100-plus-yard performances from sophomore Denzel Johnson and senior quarterback Kielyn Lewis, the Leopards came up short thanks in part to a few special teams miscues and four costly turnovers, most of which came in the first half.
But now it’s time for the Leopards to rectify those mistakes and use that second-half momentum against Paris to help the team put up W’s in the win column, Gary said.
“Our kids have done a very good job of staying focused,” he said. “Last week, I really felt like Tuesday through Friday that we were very focused, then this week I think we’re focused. Our kids understand how close they were in the first game and the attitudes of the kids have been really good.”
But correcting mistakes such as allowing three onside kick recoveries and a 59-yard fake punt return for a touchdown will be a key focus for the Leopards.
We’re going to work on it every day because Decatur’s notorious for onside (kicks),” Gary added. “I don’t blame anyone that saw that film. I’d obviously put that in if I was playing us, so we’ve got to be ready for it.”
Decatur is coming off a high against Whitesboro in which the Eagles triumphed in a big way 35-20 over the Bearcats.
The bellcow of the Decatur (1-0) offense is the highly athletic Tyler Hodges, who torched Whitesboro with his feet, rushing for 101 yards, three touchdowns and added a 35-yard punt return for a score. Hodges added 177 yards through the air against Whitesboro, but was just 9-for-26 with an interception.
“They’re improved. They are a good football team. Tyler Hodges he’s a good quarterback. He’s a very athletic kid and throws the ball well. His feet worry us a lot, too, because he has the ability to run the football, just watching the film against Whitesboro he did a pretty good job of that.
“We’ve got to make sure we have Tyler Hodges under wraps. We he gets out into a true run we’ve got to make sure we get a lot of people to the football. When he (wants to) throws the ball, we’ve got to take away the scramble and have somebody spy him pretty much at all times.”
As for the grand opening with the new stadium, coach Gary said he feels his team is not distracted with the hype, but they are eager to get that win on their new home turf.
“That stadium is looking very good and hopefully we get a good crowd,” Gary said. “It’s going to be a good night. (We’re) focused and know what Decatur’s wanting to do. They’ve been around Decatur for awhile and have been on both ends of it. They took a bad beating from them two years ago and then last year we beat them at their place. We have enough seniors to know what to expect from Decatur.”
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Related Photos
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Gainesville Leopards Kenyon Morgan (22), Harold Wills (5), Meritt Banks (3) and slew of other defensemen bring down a Paris’ runner in last week’s 27-24 overtime loss to the Wildcats. The Leopard defense was one of the strong points in the season opener and will be called upon again against a prolific Decatur offense Friday. Photo by Stephen Monahan
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