Vinnie Shabazz leads Olathe North past Leavenworth

Two coaches who know each other really well went at it Friday night in a Sunflower League game at Leavenworth.

Olathe North coach Gene Wier is in his third year back coaching the Eagles after several years of coaching in Texas. Leavenworth coach Mark Littrell is in his second year of leading the Pioneers. He was on Wier’s staff in Texas, and before that the two had battled when Littrell was the head coach at Olathe South.

This time undefeated Olathe North came away with a 38-22 victory.

Wier found a penny right at the 50-yard line during the pregame warmups. “Maybe that’s my lucky penny,” he noted.

And it might have been.

The Pioneers scored first in both the first and third quarters, but the Eagles dominated the second and fourth quarters.

Leavenworth got its first possession after the Eagles went for it on fourth and 9 at the Pioneers’ 29 and came up four yards short.

The Pioneers moved 75 yards in nine plays. On the first play, wide receiver Isaiah Ross went in motion, took a handoff and went 39 yards to the Olathe North 36.

Senior quarterback Landry Hodges ran a quarterback draw 28 yards to the 2-yard-line and on the next play kept it himself on a sneak to score. Senior Jake Boyce added the placement make it 7-0 with 8:48 left in the first quarter.

The Eagles came back to score three times in the half.

Senior quarterback Cole Murphy scored on a 28-yard run late in the first quarter, and senior running back Venus Triplett rambled 26 yards to score early in the second quarter.

The Eagles finished the scoring in the half with an 11-play, 82-yard drive with no timeouts left.

The touchdown came on an 11-yard pass from Murphy to senior wide receiver Jeighlon Cornell with just 24 seconds left, giving Olathe North a 19-7 lead at the break.

On the first play of the drive, Triplett suffered an apparent leg injury. He came back for three plays in the third quarter, but nothing after that.

Leavenworth took the second-half kickoff and marched 68-yards in six plays. The key play was a screen pass from Hodges to Juwan Potts that covered 48 yards.

Ross got the touchdown on a six-yard run. The Eagles were offside on the extra point and Leavenworth elected to go for two. senior Sanchez Williams got the two-point conversion run to make it 19-15.

The Pioneers had a first and 10 at the Eagles’ 30 in the fourth quarter, but a quarterback sweep by Hodges didn’t gain a yard on fourth and three.

The Eagles proceeded move the 77 yards in five plays. Junior running back Vinnie Shabazz had 46 yards in four carries in the drive. Murphy got the touchdown on a sneak with 2:56 left in the game.

Shabazz was the leading rusher in the game with 168 yards on 18 carries.

Williams led the Pioneers with 83 yards in 11 attempts.

This story was originally published October 3, 2014 at 11:04 PM with the headline "Vinnie Shabazz leads Olathe North past Leavenworth."