By Johnny Sanders, for The Tribune
LEEDS — Leeds wasted no time jumping on the visiting Saints from Odenville in a Class 5A Region 6 contest between these neighbors.
“It was a team win,” Leeds head coach Jerry Hood said, “And I am proud as heck of the guys.”
His Leeds defense pitched its first shutout of the year and the offense was clicking on all cylinders as the Green Wave beat the Saints 41-0.
Leeds took the ball first and, after being held to a three-and-out on its first drive, seemed to get things going. After an impressive pass from Jarod Latta to Brody Goodman for 38 yards, the Leeds offense set up shop on the 2-yard line where Rametrius Yelverton punched it in from the wildcat formation with 7:07 to go in the first.
After holding the Saints to another three-and-out, Leeds’ CJ Douglas took the punt 55 yards for their second touchdown of the night. The PAT was missed but they were up 13-0 with 4:43 to go in the opening frame.
Once again, the Leeds defense suffocated St Clair’s offense and the put the ball back into the hands of Latta and his offense. On second and 8, the quarterback found his favorite target, Joshua Ruff, for a 32-yard touchdown pass to close out the first quarter with Leeds up 20-0.
Leeds would would start the second frame with a 67-yard drive, highlighted by a fake punt that saw Tucker Jones take the snap from the up back position and get the 6 yards needed to keep the drive alive. After that, Latta had an impressive 30-yard scamper that put Leeds in position to score, which Jeremiah Hunter did from 2 yards out with 5:38 to go in the half.
Leeds held the Saints to another punt, which was partially blocked by CJ Douglas. Yelverton later ran the ball to the 1-yard line where he would fumble into the end zone, but Goodman was there to pounce on it and put his team up 34-0 with 2:54 to go and that is how the half would end.
Coach Hood said, “It was nice to see us come out and play well in the first half, finally.”
CJ Douglas would block a Saints field goal in the second half to secure the shutout.
On the next three plays, Rametrius Yelverton would take the ball 56 yards, ending with a 27-yard touchdown to finish off the scoring for this game and put his team up 41-0 with 2:33 left in the third and that is how it would end.
When asked about the turnaround from a two-win season last year to now seven wins in a row, Coach Hood said, “We’re so far from the two wins. This bunch has bought in to the work. We are not thinking about stopping at seven. We’re going to try to get one more next week and that’s all we can control.”
Talking about the defense getting the shutout, “I’m happy for them. They have been playing tremendous, giving up around seven points a game. We are proud of a shutout, but if St Clair scores, we are not upset about that.”
Though Yelverton had 111 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns, the offense seemed to spread the ball out and not depend on any one player tonight. “That’s what we need to be. When you get in the playoffs, someone is going to take away Yelverton or somebody like that.”
Leeds travels to Corner next week before hosting Alexandria in a battle for the region championship the following week.