In a normal year, every football team besides one finishes the year with a loss. This year, LeRoy was one of many teams in the area finishing their season off on a high note.
LeRoy defeated conference foe Heyworth 49-7 on the road.
The Heart of Illinois Conference (HOIC) decided to play a four-week schedule this year. The word “thankful” pops up a lot when players and coaches discuss this game and the entire season.
“I’m thankful for the seniors, and thankful for the team for everything they did for us,” said LeRoy head coach B.J. Zeleznik. “I appreciate our coaching staff and everybody involved with the program. We are very happy for our seniors to be able to go out in style like this.”
Friday night lights in the middle of April is far from what we are used to, but the whole program played as if it was the typical season and everything was on the line.
LeRoy went undefeated in HOIC play, which is hard to do even in a shortened season.
“They cheered for one another and lifted each other up this year. It was very much a family atmosphere,” said Zeleznik. “They kept the proud legacy of LeRoy Football heading in a positive direction.”
After traveling three hours last game and not coming home with a win, the team was happy to put on a show against one of their neighboring schools.
“Whenever we go to Heyworth we come out way more pumped up and excited than usual,” said fullback and middle linebacker Jaron Pinkerton. “We just refuse to lose to a team we have had history against.”
This year, the team was playing for something much bigger than football.
“I want people to remember that although it was a shortened season, we still all went as hard as we could. This season was special not only because it was my last season ever, but we also lost somebody extremely important to the community,” said Pinkerton. “I hope that everyone knows everything we did this year was for Coach Reinhart and we all wish he was here today.”
LeRoy jumped out to an early 8-0 lead sparked by a 32-yard touchdown run from Kam Givens and they never looked back.
Givens continued to dominate the running game as he finished the game with 173 yards on the ground, including a 75-yard touchdown run.
Grant Sant Amour and Carson Houser each added two rushing touchdowns of their own.
Mason Buckles gathered all of the receiving yards for the Panthers with 64.
Pinkerton got in on the scoring fun on defense with a pick-6 late in the game to seal the deal for the Panthers.
“The only thing going through my head was ‘please don’t drop it,’” said Pinkerton. “The feeling was great to see everybody come and jump on me. It was a memory I won’t forget.”
After a great year for LeRoy, they will get back to work very soon. The next season is set to start in the fall.
“It was a shortened year, a weird year, but still a very memorable one,” said Zeleznik