GIBSON CITY – Chad Augspurger, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley High School’s head football coach, has preached a one game at a time mentality throughout the 2024 season.
However, as GCMS won each of its first seven games of the season, he would be lying if he said the Week 8 matchup at LeRoy was not on the back of their minds.
“We’ve seen it on the horizon, but we’ve been trying to stay focused on what’s ahead of us,” Augspurger said. “Now this game’s here, and the kids and coach are excited about it. It’s going to be a run night. We’re excited to be a part of the big matchup.”
Augspurger’s Falcons, who were ranked No. 5 in Class 1A in an Associated Press poll last week, will travel to face LeRoy, the No. 3-ranked 1A team, at 7 p.m. Friday.
“This is why you want to compete in interscholastic sports,” Augspurger said. “If you want to be the best, you’ve got to play the best, and these are two really good teams going at it. This is what you want to be when you’re competing.”
The Falcons have outscored their last two opponents by a combined score of 77-19, winning 34-7 over a 4-3 Tuscola team in Week 6 and 43-12 over Fieldcrest in Week 7.
LeRoy and GCMS have given Warrensburg-Latham its only two losses of the season, with the Falcons winning 24-21 in Week 2 and LeRoy claiming a 41-7 victory over the Cardinals last Friday
“I think we’ve gotten gradually better each week,” Augspurger said. “We’ve been able to improve in various parts of our game in all three phases. I think it’s a great time for this matchup. Both of us have aspirations of making some postseason runs, and it’s a good chance to create a playoff atmosphere in the regular season.”
En route to their 7-0 record, the LeRoy Panthers have outscored their opponents 316-49 while GCMS has a 225-80 edge over its first seven opponents.
“They’ve pretty much blown out every team so far. It’ll definitely be a challenge for us, but we think we can be a formidable challenge for them,” Augspurger said. “We’ve played in some tighter games, so I think we do have some experience in playing all four quarters. It’ll be a good matchup.”
LeRoy quarterback Bo Zeleznik rushed for three touchdowns in the Panthers’ win over Warrensburg-Latham.
“Bo is a great player,” Augspurger said. “He’s very dynamic with the football in his hands.”
Stephon Williams also had a rushing touchdown for LeRoy, which has a lineman group that includes a 6-foot-2, 265-pound senior guard in Tate Sigler.
“They’ve got big boys up front,” Augspurger said. “They’ve got strong running backs. They’ll want to try to pound it down your throat and then, every once in a while, catch you with some playaction. We just have to have our chin straps buckled up and be able to match that physicality.”
The Falcons will counter with an offense that features a running game led by Jacob Chase. They ran for 196 yards and passed for 180 against Fieldcrest.
“It helps us just to be multi-dimensional offense,” Augspurger said. “Teams are going to want to focus on Jacob, but we have other weapons, and we’ve got to make sure we use them.”
With his passing yards against Fieldcrest, GCMS senior quarterback Brayden Elliott broke the school’s career record of 2,706 yards set by Stephan Birt from 2007-09. Elliott now sits at 2,762 passing yards from 2021 to last Friday.
“It’s a great distinction,” Augspurger said. “He’s a great kid and a great human being, a great quarterback and a great leader for us. It’s just really fun to see have the kind of success that he’s been able to have not just this year, but throughout his whole high school career, and not just in football. He a three-sport athlete, and he excels in all three. It’s been fun to watch.”