Leesburg Nudges Bishop Moore, 9-7 Madden Boots 27-yard Field Goal In 4th Quarter To Clinch Victory

November 23, 1985

By Joe Williams of The Sentinel Staff
 
LEESBURG — Steve Madden kicked a 27-yard field goal with 5:31 remaining Friday night to lift Leesburg High School to a 9-7 victory over Orlando Bishop Moore before a season-ending homecoming crowd of about 2,000 at Yellow Jacket Field.


Madden's field goal was his first of the season after four unsuccessful attempts and followed a badly missed extra-point attempt late in the third quarter. It also snapped Bishop Moore's winning streak at five games.

Fullback Jon Cannon, who played a key role in the drive before the field goal, broke loose on a 15-yard runto the 13. Then he added two runs of 4 yards each. The second 4-yard carry put Cannon over the 1,000-yard mark for the season.



He finished the game with 70 yards on 15 carries to give him 1,004 yards.


Leesburg (4-6) cut Bishop Moore's lead to 7-6 late in the third quarter when Madden, a junior quarterback, threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to Rod Wright. But Madden missed the extra point.

Bishop Moore (5-5) took a 7-0 lead with 50 seconds left in the first half when quarterback Mark Klein hit Matt Kalicak on two consecutive pass plays. The first one was a 36-yarder, which set up a 13-yard touchdown pass on the next play. Paul Castillo added the extra point.

Castillo had an opportunity to stretch the Hornets' lead to 10-0 early in the third quarter, but a 37-yard field-goal attempt was wide to the right.

''That was really nerve-wracking, especially after that extra point,'' Madden said. ''We had a problem when we lined up for the extra point, but I just flat made bad contact with the ball.

''But on the field goal, there was a good snap. John McGlohorn got the ball down, and I just concentrated on keeping my head down. I knew it was through as soon as I kicked it.''

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LHS wins war of the wasps

BENJAMIN ROODE

Correspondent

published: Saturday, September 05, 2009
 
LEESBURG -- The Leesburg Yellow Jackets' only field goal in their second-half battle with the Bishop Moore Hornets came just secondbefore the final whistle sounded. Luckily, that kick by Ben Rizzo with 1:10 left in the game was enough to give the Yellow Jackets a 35-34 win over the Orlando prep powerhouse.

Leesburg's kicker stepped up to the occasion after some missteps earlier in the game. One of Rizzo's four PAT attempts was blocked when a porous line let a Hornet defenseman through the middle to bat away the try. Rizzo's final attempt -- after a Leesburg hook-and- lateral touchdown to close the first half -- was not touched but fell well short of the uprights.

Yellow Jackets head coach Charles Nassar said he was confident when he sent Rizzo in with the game on the line.

"(Defensive Coordinator) Tom Valenta worked a lot this week with (Rizzo)," Nassar said. "I knew he could get it in. What we didn't know was if we could keep (the defense from blocking the kick)."

Despite the last-minute heroics, most of the fireworks of this game came in the first half.

Leesburg scored on a 74-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Efrain Negron after Bishop Moore drove 81 yards in six plays to put the first touchdown on the board.
The Jackets switched up their offense on the next drive. Negron when 3 of 3 passing in a spread offense, finishing with a 24-yard fade to junior wide out Jake Cavender to take a 14-7 lead.
The Jackets' defense also chimed in. Bishop Moore had taken a 21-20 lead late in the first half and were threatening to add to their advantage when Leesburg senior nose guard Andre Water stripped Hornets quarterback Eric Connolly. Cavender, who also plays defensive back, scooped up the loose ball and returned it for a touchdown.

Leesburg reached into its bag of tricks when Bishop Moore's next drive stalled at the Leesburg 40 yard line with :56 remaining in the half. A 58-yard hook-and-lateral pass from D'Mauri Jones to junior running back Luther McDowell put Leesburg up 32-21 at the half.

The Jackets sputtered in the third and most of the fourth quarter, allowing Bishop Moore to put two scores up and take a 34-32 lead with about 10 minutes left in the game. Sputtering drives for both sides led Leesburg to the winning points with just over a minute left.

"When you're an option team, you have to stay on schedule," Nassar said of several second half drive-killing penalties. "We knew we weren't able to sit on a lead, that we would need to score more points.

"Luckily, three was enough," he said.

Bishop Moore coach Matt Hedrick said poor tackling by the Hornets kept Leesburg in the game and let them win in on the last-minute field goal.

"We were prepared (for the option offense)," Hedrick said. "But we need to tackle a lot better."

Leesburg's next game comes on Friday at Mount Dora.

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Correspondent
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