TURNER – To the strains of Neil Diamond’s hit song “Sweet Caroline,” the Leavitt Hornets gathered in the north end zone and chanted the chorus in unison, “Good times never seem so good.”
It sure felt that way as the Hornets defeated the Waterville Purple Panthers 14-8 Friday night at Libbey Field.
It was the some old story for the Hornets – strong play at quarterback by senior Tyler Angell and a rock-solid defense led by seniors Mike Austin, Shane Pearl and Brandon Pare.
Angell led Leavitt 168 yards rushing on 20 carries and one touchdown. He also passed for 82 yards and another score.
The Leavitt defense held up it’s end of the deal by holding the league’s No. 1 scoring offense to a single touchdown.
The game started off on a positive note for Waterville (4-2). Taking the game’s opening kickoff, they marched 54 yards on eight plays for the score. Jon Hart found the end zone on a 1-yard plunge.
Leavitt came right back on its first possession. Covering 64 yards on seven plays, Angell raced 30 yards on a fourth-and-1 to tie the game.
Halfway through the second quarter, Waterville quarterback Dan Hussey left the game with a shoulder injury.
“He is a big part of their offense,” said Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway. “We were able to gear it (our defense) to a couple other players.”
Leavitt scored what ended up being the game-winning score with 23 seconds left before halftime.
On this drive, Angell did most of the damage with his arm, completing passes of 16 yards to Tyler Millett, 19 yards to Ben Boulay, before finding Corey Witham for an 8-yard scoring pass.
Neither team could muster a scoring drive in the second half.
Waterville had a golden opportunity late in the fourth quarter as a botched Leavitt punt gave the Panthers possession on Leavitt’s 20 yard line with three minutes left in the game.
“They brought more than we could block on that one,” said Hathaway.
But Leavitt’s defense was more than up to the task. Waterville reached the 4-yard line before being stopped on downs.
“We made mistakes on our blocking assignments”, said Waterville coach Frank Knight. “You have to give credit to Leavitt for playing great defense.”
With the victory, Leavitt took one more step in securing a home playoff game.
“I would think this (the victory) would give us at least one game here,” said Hathaway. “It would be nice to have one at home.”
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