In the renewed rivalry between the Lansing Lions and Leavenworth Pioneers, the Lions came out on top with a 49-19 victory to spoil the Pioneers’ homecoming.

The Lions opened the game with a strong first drive, but a fumble gave the Pioneers the ball. Leavenworth would drive near the goal line, but Lansing’s defense held and Leavenworth missed a field goal to leave with no points.

Another fumble by the Lions gave Leavenworth another chance, but the Pioneers could not get the ball in the end zone after going for it on fourth down and the first quarter ended in a 0-0 tie.

The Lions got on the board first on a Konner McQuillan 36 yard run to go up 7-0 with 4:55 remaining in the first half.

McQuillan would add another touchdown with 1:41 left in the quarter to extend the halftime lead to 14.

Midway through the third quarter, Leavenworth would drive down near the Lansing red zone before Ja’Hawn Byrd left in an ambulance from the game due to a helmet-to-helmet injury.

Lions head coach Dylan Brown said that his player who made the hit that knocked Byrd out was shaken up after the play and he’s pretty sure that the player will reach out to Byrd and his family over the weekend.

After the lengthy time for Byrd to be assisted out of the game, Leavenworth would get on the board but missed the PAT. Lansing would answer right back and extend the lead to 20-6. The Lions would add another two more touchdowns to go up 35-6.

Leavenworth added another touchdown to make it 35-12, but Lansing would score on the kickoff to go back up 42-12.

Both teams traded touchdowns each to make the final score 49-19.