According to the Cincinnati Post, the 1928 Lloyd Memorial football team played “like a juggernaut.”
Some 95 years later, the 2023 Juggernauts were an equally huge, powerful and overwhelming force. They mercy-ruled Boone County, 47-14, on Friday at Cecil Dees Field.
“We wanted to play well,” Lloyd coach Kyle Niederman said. “We wanted to make sure we bounce back week-to-week.”
It would’ve been easy to credit Lloyd’s Yurii Collins Comer and Isaiah Sebastian for the win – Comer ran 20 times for 312 yards and two scores (he also caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Sebastian), while Sebastian needed only eight carries to amass 104 yards and passed for 55 more.
It also would have been somewhat shortsighted.
Lloyd gained 428 total yards because of an offensive line that often sent Rebel defenders five yards off the line of scrimmage. Perhaps the most eye-popping statistic: the Juggernauts ran 44 plays and averaged 9.7 yards per play on the way to a 2-0 start.
“They’re more physical than us,” Boone County coach Bryson Warner said of the Juggernauts. “ … They were more physical and they’re well-coached and they were more disciplined.”
Boone County (1-1) was not bereft of offense – the Rebels gained 285 yards altogether (and 7.7 yards per snap), and Jamar Hocker threw for 137 yards and a touchdown, a 94-yarder to Mason Hall with 3:51 left in the first quarter.
Take away Hocker-to-Hall, and the Rebels gained just 191.
It took just 86 seconds for Sebastian to open the scoring, a 60-yard trip around right end.
Lloyd’s next score – Sebastian to Collins Comer for 16 yards with 8:11 to go in the second stanza – was its most sustained drive: 15 plays, 80 yards. Collins Comer had 10 carries for 30 yards, and Sebastian added another 25 on two end runs.
Collins Comer’s 54-yard run gave the Juggernauts a 21-7 halftime lead.
“This was my first year playing varsity running back,” Collins Comer said. “I just give it up to my line for making it possible to have a game like this.”
Then – the play that sealed Boone County’s fate.
The Rebels fumbled the second-half kickoff – a popup that Ryan Miller snatched and took 17 yards and the touchdown.
“I saw my fellow teammate, Nathaniel Mendez, pop the ball out of the receiver,” Miller said. “It flew up in the air, and I went over and grabbed it and ran (17) yards.”
It took Lloyd a little more than three minutes to take a 40-7 lead. Seth Moran capped a 64-yard drive with an eight-yard run – Collins Comer carried three times for 45 yards – and Collins Comer followed with a 40-yard score.
Sebastian’s 25-yard run with 11:03 left in the game gave Lloyd a 47-7 lead. Boone County’s Josh Wick ended the scoring with a nine-yard run with less than a minute remaining.
Collins Comer thought he might have to treat the linemen to breakfast. Financing it, however, might be a challenge.
“I’ll have to find some money to give ‘em pancakes – something,” Comer said.
JUGGERNAUTS 47, REBELS 14
BOONE COUNTY — 7–0-0-7 — 14
LLOYD MEMORIAL — 7-14–19–7 — 47
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(LM) – Sebastian 60 run (Elijah Westwood kick), 10:34
(BC) – Hall 94 pass from Hocker (Tyler Judd kick), 3:51
2nd Quarter
(LM) – Yurii Collins Comer 16 pass from Sebastian (Westwood kick), 8:11
(LM) – Collins Comer 54 run (Westwood kick), 3:37
3rd Quarter
(LM) – Miller 17 fumble recovery (kick failed), 11:40
(LM) – Moran 8 run (kick failed), 8:26
(LM) – Comer 40 run (Westwood kick), 5:37
4th Quarter
(LM) – Sebastian 25 run (Westwood kick), 11:03
(BC) – Josh Wick 9 run (Judd kick), 0:29
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Boone Co. 148 (Hocker 5-8); Lloyd 55 (Sebastian 4-7, INT)
Rushing Yards: Boone County 137 (Hocker 15-25, Wick 10-57, Jackson 1-(minus-1), Jones 1-2, Graves 1-21, Roberts 1-33); Lloyd 428 (Sebastian 8-104, Comer 20-312, Copeland 1-2, Collins 2-7, Bishop 1-4, Moran 2-18, Conrad 3-(minus-4))
Receiving: Boone County 148 (Graves 2-29, Hall 2-106, Wick 1-13); Lloyd 55 (Copeland 1-26, Collins 2-13, Comer 1-16)
Turnovers: Boone County 1, Lloyd 1
Penalties: Boone County 3-25, Lloyd 3-30
Records: Boone County 1-1, Lloyd 2-0.