Leo’s Harris runs over Gordon

Updated: October 8, 2011 5:01PM

Leo’s Keith Harris Jr. was stuffed for losses on each of his first two carries against Gordon Tech on Saturday.

But the 5-11 senior tailback kept plugging away and by the end of the game he had amassed 213 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries as the Lions knocked off the Rams 39-19 in a Catholic League Red contest at Luther North.

“We always comes out to a slow start, but then we come together as a team,” Harris said. “I really think what did the trick for me was the offensive line. Without them I couldn’t anywhere.”

With just five teams in the conference, the winner doesn’t get an automatic berth to the state playoffs. And both Gordon (3-4, 2-1) and Leo (4-3, 3-1) knew they desperately needed a victory.

“Every game is a must win so we camE out here with good intensity and won the football game,” said Lions’ quarterback Jarod Cooper, who ran for a touchdown and passed for another while completing 6-of-14 passes for 131 yards.

Gordon took a 6-0 lead after the opening drive covered 68 yards in 13 plays, capped by a seven-yard run by Jorge Garcia (25 carries, 160 yards, 3 touchdowns).

But Leo controlled the rest of the first half as Harris scored on runs of 87, two and 38 yards to give the Lions an 18-6 halftime lead.

The Rams pulled within six points on two occasions following touchdowns by Garcia (7 and 13) in the second half but Leo’s offense couldn’t be stopped. Theodore Hopkins Jr. scored on a 35-yard run while Cooper rushed for a TD on a one-yard sneak and tossed a 33-yard score to Joshua Owens.

Gordon, which rushed for 274 yards, had three costly fumbles, two of which led to Leo touchdowns.

“You just can’t cough up the ball three times,” Garcia said. “It’s very disappointing. We had 16 seniors who hoped to make it to the state playoffs.”

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