Brian Richardson,Staff Writer

BATH – When your team has as many penalties as first downs, you need a strong defensive effort to keep you in the game.

That’s exactly what happened Friday night as Leavitt twice stopped Morse deep in its own terriorty to secure a 34-8 victory at McMann Field.

Once again the Leavitt offense was led by quarterback Tyler Angell. Angell threw for 164 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed nine times for 106 yards and another touchdown.

The Hornets first scoring drive came after its’ defense stopped Morse on the 1-yard line.

After two rushes, Angell pitched the ball to RB Corey Witham, who scooted around left end and raced down the sideline for a 87-yard touchdown run to give Leavitt an early lead.

After holding Morse to a three and out, the Hornet offense took over. Starting at its 27 the Hornets needed only seven plays to find the end zone. The key play of the drive was a 32-yard pass completion on third down to Witham. Two plays later, Angell found End Ben Boulay for a 28-yard touchdown. The Hornets were playing with out fullback Chris Brewer, who set out the game with an injury.

“With Brewer not playing, we needed Angell, Witham and Boulay to have a big game,” said Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway.

Morse came right back to score on the last play of the first half. QB Dan Sigurdson found WR Micah Loveitt for a 37-yard pass completion. Sophomore running back Darrus Grate scored on the next play to make it 13-8 at halftime.

The Leavitt defense came up with its most important stop of the night on the first series of the third quarter.

“I told the defense at halfttime to make a stop,” said Hathaway. “They stepped up and took away the momentum.”

Taking over on their 12 yard line, the Hornet offense needed only four plays to go the length of the field. Once again, it was Angell to Boulay as they hooked up for a 32-yard pass completion. Angell ran in from 17 yards out on the next play to give the Hornets an 19-8 lead.

Angell then came up big on defense, as he intercepted a Sigurdson pass to give Leavitt excellent field position. Seven plays later, Angell found Witham in the corner of the end zone to give Leavitt a 27-8 lead.

Leavitt’s final score came with 2:52 to go in the game. Gard Castonguay crashed in from three yards out for the final margin of victory.

“We’re a young team,” said Morse coach Jason Libby, “Our goal is to get better every week.”