Lovejoy football beats Lake Dallas 55-7, faces undefeated Frisco Oct. 22
LUCAS, Texas 鈥� The Leopards of Lovejoy High School continued their winning ways as its varsity football team defeated Lake Dallas (Corinth, Texas) 55-7 in District 7-5A Division II play on Oct. 15.
Lovejoy is now 7-0 overall and 5-0 in district play and finds itself ranked second in statewide polls, just behind the defending state champion Aledo Bearcats who won their home conference football game against Mansfield Timberview 35-21 in district play.
In a season that many sports pundits thought would be a rebuilding year for Lovejoy, the Leopards are riding the hot hand of breakout sophomore quarterback Alexander Franklin who was 14-of-19, also threw for 327 yards and six touchdowns in Lovejoy鈥檚 convincing victory over Lake Dallas at Falcons Stadium. In total, Lovejoy accumulated 495 total yards in the victory.
Behind the stellar play of first-year signal caller Franklin, the Lovejoy Leopards have averaged 56.57 points per game on offense and given up only 10 points a game on defense for a plus-326 point differential.聽 In just seven games this season, Franklin has 1,907 passing yards and has thrown for 33 touchdowns.
Lovejoy wide receivers Jaxson Lavender and Parker Livingston have combined for 1,742 yards receiving and 28 touchdowns on 91 receptions between them.
Lovejoy head coach Chris Ross described his offensive philosophy when he said, 鈥淗e likes his football team to play a physical and vertical brand of football that is always seeking to score on every possession.鈥�
In keeping with this offensive philosophy, Franklin did not disappoint, as he threw a 21-yard touchdown to Livingstone on the very first offensive play of the game.
While Coach Ross is widely known as an offensive guru for his quick scoring offense, his defensive teams hit hard when they block and tackle.
According to Ross, 鈥渇ast offenses will dictate the pace of the game and will make the defense play at the offense鈥檚 game speed.鈥�
Ross says that, 鈥渄efenses are often not ready to face an extremely fast, up-tempo offense and that subbing players in an out against such an offense will ultimately be a problem.鈥�
Coach Ross said that 鈥渉e likes his team to play fast and score fast鈥� and amassed a 14-0 lead after the first quarter before scoring 27 more points in the second quarter. Lovejoy had a 41-0 lead at halftime and never looked back.
After losing star quarterback Ralph Rucker to graduation last season, many believed that Lovejoy would take a step back. Earlier in the season, Coach Ross said, 鈥淥ur team is retooling as our coaches instill our offensive system into Alexander Franklin and our other quarterbacks.鈥�
Rucker was named the Texas District 7-5A MVP in both 2019 and 2020.
After going undefeated over the first seven games this season, Lucas Lovejoy has surpassed expectations and has rapidly rebuilt their offense despite losing Rucker who is now a preferred walk-on at the University of Oklahoma.
Coach Ross says, 鈥淏ecause of the importance that the quarterback position has to our entire offensive system, our coaches spend a lot of time during the offseason cultivating and bringing a long their quarterbacks.鈥�
Evidently this process of coaching and preparation has paid off as Coach Ross and his Lovejoy Leopards are now 7-0 as they face undefeated Frisco in a crucial District 7-5A Division II game with major playoff ramifications.
Lovejoy鈥檚 varsity football team faces Frisco High School in a home game at Leopards Stadium on Friday, Oct. 22.
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