Rabbits suffer non-district loss to Leopards

Atlanta wrapped up its final non-district contest of the season last Friday night against rival Liberty-Eylau.

The game was close throughout with L-E taking a 6-0 lead into the half. Atlanta scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter but the Leopards ended up winning the contest 24-7.

Several starters were out going into the game and a few left the contest with injuries early on.

First Quarter

L-E won the toss but deferred to the second half.

Atlanta began its first drive of the game from the 20-yard line. Rabbit quarterback Kameron Dickerson connected with receiver Cooper McClure for 11 yards on the first play from scrimmage.

That was followed with a 26-yard run by running back Caleb Hamilton who took the ball into Leopard country.

Hamilton was injured on the play, however, and never returned to action.

Terunte Neal, normally a receiver, lined up in the backfield and took the next handoff six yards down to the 37.

Neal picked up another five yards before Alijuah Drayton took the ball down to the Leopard 25 on a sweep play.

Three plays later L-E recovered a fumble at the 26-yard line.

Atlanta’s defense has been tested through the first four games and this game was no different.

In all four games they stood tall and during the Leopards’ first drive Logan Shelton and Jordan Stiger came up with some big hits.

L-E ended up punting the ball away after just four plays at the 7:34 mark.

An interception on Atlanta’s next drive set up L-E at the Rabbit 26.

Nice hits by Stiger, Trey Adams and Isaiah Henderson forced L-E into a fourth down situation.

Shelton dropped the ball carrier a foot short of the first down on the fourth down attempt and the Rabbs had the ball back deep in its own territory.

Freshman running back La’randion Dowden entered the game and took the initial handoff seven yards before Dickerson picked up eight yards on the ground.

On second-downand-8 Dickerson’s pass was tipped into the hands of a Leopard defender with 4:04 left in the first frame.

L-E scored the game’s first touchdown on a 41- yard pass play on its next drive, but a penalty negated the points.

The Leopards couldn’t find a good rhythm after that and ended up punting the ball away with 1:50 left in the first quarter.

Dickerson picked up 13 yards on the next drive and the first quarter ended with the Rabbs facing a second-down-and-13 situation.

Second Quarter

Dickerson lost a yard on the first play of the second stanza, but evaded blitzing L-E defenders and delivered a nice pass to Daniel Hernandez for 16 yards.

L-E was flagged for a late hit on Dickerson and Justin “Catfish” Pierce came in to relieve Dickerson for a short time at the QB position.

Liberty-Eylau stiffened on defense for the rest of the drive and the Rabbs were forced to punt the ball away with 8:30 left in the first half.

Rabbit punter Cooper McClure executed a perfect coffin corner kick and pinned the Leopards at the 2-yard line.

Two plays into the drive the Leopard fumbled the ball and Atlanta recovered with 8:02 showing on the clock.

Atlanta had great field position at the Leopard 9-yard line but couldn’t punch it in for a touchdown.

On fourth down Hernandez came in to attempt a 23-yard field goal but the kick just missed going in and the score was still knotted up at 0-0 with 6:40 left in the second quarter.

Atlanta’s defense delivered more big hits from Stiger and Lakeceion Matthews on the next Leopard drive, but L-E found its way into the endzone after marching 95 yards in eight plays.

The 2-point play was unsuccessful but L-E had a 6-0 lead with 4:13 left in the first half.

Neal took a brunt of the handoffs for the Rabbs on its next drive and collected 15 yards on three carries.

Unfortunately Atlanta couldn’t advance the ball for a first down and had to punt the ball away with 2:30 left in the half.

L-E threatened to score again after driving from the 20-yard line down to the rabbit eight with just seconds remaining on the clock.

Nice plays by Keyshawn Easter and a sack by Ty Blizzard kept the Leopards from scoring again.

Third Quarter

The Leopards received the ball to begin the second half. Pierce assumed the QB spot for the rest of the game after Dickerson was held out to be checked for a head injury.

Nice tackles by Stiger and Adams on the drive and some tightened down coverage on the corner by defensive back Easter forced the Leopards to punt the ball away with 8:40 showing on the clock.

Dowden and Neal racked up some nice yardage for the Rabbs on its next drive but a loss on third down put the Rabbs in punt formation again.

McClure had another nice punt and Jackson Warren secured the ball at the 1-yard line before it crossed the goal line.

Warren, Neal and DK Parker stymied the Leopards on its next drive and forced L-E to punt the ball away with 3:07 left in the quarter.

The two teams traded possessions for the rest of the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Atlanta opened the final frame by punting the ball away to L-E.

L-E scored on its next drive but failed on the 2-point play. The score stood at 12-0 with 9:03 left in the game.

Atlanta’s next drive ended with a bout of confusion as the Rabbit ball carrier was marked down before the ball came out.

After a short meeting the referees decided the Leopards had recovered and L-E took over deep in Rabbit country.

The Leopards scored at the 7:45 mark but could not get the 2-point play across the goal line.

Facing an 18-0 deficit the Rabbs put together a nice drive which started with Neal taking the handoff 12 yards.

Pierce connected with Warren for five yards on his first varsity completed pass and a roughing the passer call against L-E pushed Atlanta deeper into L-E territory.

A short run by Dowden and another personal foul on L-E put the Rabbs at the 16-yard line.

Pierce scored his first varsity touchdown on a nice 16-yard run and Hernandez hit the PAT to pull the Rabbs within 11.

With 4:42 left in the game Atlanta was down just 18-7.

Hernandez executed a nice onside kick but the Leopards recovered the loose ball after it careened off an L-E player.

The Leopards scored one more touchdown before the final buzzer. The 2-point play was no good and the game ended with L-E on top 24-7.

The Rabbs travel to White Oak this Friday night to take on the Roughnecks. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.