By Will Heath, For the Tribune
LEEDS — The mission for Joseph Stone and the Leeds High School football team was a simple one on Friday night vs. St. Clair County.
“We do Leeds,” he said.
Stone and the Green Wave “did Leeds” Friday night by starting fast and never letting up, scoring 3 touchdowns in the game’s first 6 minutes on their way to a 34-0 halftime lead. They won the game, 34-0.
The Green Wave (3-1, 2-0) dominated every phase of the game early on Friday against the Saints.
Sophomore quarterback Sam Lollar, starting in place of injured junior Conner Nelson, threw for 87 yards and two touchdowns.
Tailback ZJ Dale rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown.
Kicker Avery Langford nailed a pair of field goals.
And defensive back Jeremiah Hall stepped in front of a pass from St. Clair’s Landyn Smith, returning it 69 yards for a touchdown.
Leeds also blocked a St. Clair punt, and recovered one of its kickoffs to set up a touchdown.
“It was a good night for us,” Leeds head coach Jerry Hood said.
That was more than enough for the Leeds defense. Smith, a freshman, was sacked twice and threw an interception. The Saints (1-2, 0-1) finished with 103 total yards of offense.
It was, in Stone’s words, “the Leeds defense everybody knows.”
“We got back to our basics,” he said. “Back to Leeds defense.”
Lollar and the Leeds offense opened the game with a blizzard. The sophomore found freshman Tay Gaiter for a 22-yard touchdown on the first possession of the game. After St. Clair failed to field the ensuing kickoff, Dale carried it in for a 6-yard touchdown.
Hall intercepted Smith’s third pass attempt of the game, and suddenly Leeds was up 21-0 with 6:16 still to play in the first quarter.
“You definitely don’t draw it up that way,” St. Clair County head coach Tyler Robinson said after the game. “We can’t do that against a good football team.”
Lollar would add a second touchdown pass, on an 11-yard swing pass to Grayson Ford.
“I thought he did an unbelievable job,” Hood said. “I’m proud as heck of him.”
Leeds now heads into a bye week. They’ll play Sylacauga for Homecoming on Sept. 29.
Stone promised “no days off” during the bye, a sentiment Hood echoed.
“I think we’ve grown,” he said. “We have a good identity. We know who we are.”
The Saints will return home to face Southside.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” Robinson said. “We’ve just got to continue to grow.”