La Grange traveled to Irving's Texas Stadium on Friday, December 22, 2000 to take on the Forney Jackrabbits for the 3A Division II State Championship game. La Grange was playing for the state championship twenty-five years after winning the state 2A crown in 1975.  

The Leopard team actually left for Irving on Thursday, December 21, after being honored with a community send off from the courthouse at noon.  The team was able to arrive in Irving Thursday evening and experience a walk through and practice at Texas Stadium.  In addition, the Leps returned to the stadium Friday morning to once again conduct a walk through before returning to the stadium at game time.

The Leps had a tremendous following with a reported 24 charter buses coming to Irving from La Grange and the surrounding areas.  Fans were pumped and ready to support the Leopards regardless of the four-hour trip.  Forney would have to travel only 45 minutes and brought a huge following as well.  

The stadium was decorated with banners proclaiming each school's success and support.  La Grange fans brought their noise makers in tow all the way from ball-bearing filled canisters, to bells, megaphones, and horns.  The scene was definitely set for an exciting game of high school football.

Kickoff was set for 7:30 p.m. and La Grange was visitors.  LG would win the toss and elect to receive. It would take both teams a while to adjust with both having two possessions before a score would be put up on the board.  The Leopards would score first on 14 plays covering 80 yards.  The score would occur with 4:35 left in the first half.  Seifert's kick was good, making the score LG 7, Forney 0.  

Forney would go three-and-out on their next possession and LG would regain the ball with 2:36 left in the half.
  

Gunn would carry two for 7 yards and Kalina would carry one for 4 yards.   On the next carry, Kalina would manage to break lose from a tackle and scramble 61 yards untouched for the second score.  Seiferts' pat would put LG up 14 -0.  But the Leopard lead would be temporary.

Just ten seconds and one play later, Forney would score cutting LG's lead in half.  Forney's Tomlinson would pass 76 yards to DaBryan Blanton who pulled in a one-handed catch.  Cuva's pat made the score LG 14, Forney 7.

The second half would see more of Blanton - almost exclusively.  Forney would score next on their second third- quarter possession.  La Grange's defense had held Forney forcing them to kick a 22-yard field goal, making the score LG 14, Forney 10.

Possession would trade hands, but it would be Forney to score next.  Blanton would score on a 2-yard run with Cuva's pat good, making the score Forney 17, LG 14.  It would be the first time Forney would take the lead.

La Grange would regain possession and drive down the field to seemingly what would be a touchdown when Gunn would be intercepted.  It was looking bleak for the Leopards, but one thing was obvious, LG's defense would have to hold Forney in order to get the ball back with enough time to score.  And the Leopards would do just that forcing Forney to punt.  But the Jackrabbits weren't through, their Cuva would boot the punt 64 yards nailing La Grange on their own 6 yard line.  LG would have to drive 94 yards to win.  

It would take La Grange 11 plays to cover the 94 yards.  Gunn and Anderle would get the ball down to the 31 where Gunn would then keep for two carries of 39 and 18 yards to bring LG to the Forney 12.  Anderle would add another 8 yards on a pitch leaving the Leopards with a third down and 2 at the 4.  The Leopards would need two to earn another set of downs to score.  Gunn would earn the first down and then score on the next play.  Seifert's pat would fail making the score LG 20, Forney 17.  With 2:23 left in the game, Forney would have more than enough time to score and take the lead, and it looked like that was what was in store.

On Saturday, December 16, 2000, the Waco ISD Stadium was the site of the 3A Division II Semifinal Championship game between the La Grange Leopards and the Marlin Bulldogs.

All in attendance would agree that it was an incredible ball game, and fans witnessed tremendous effort from both teams.  However, it would be La Grange's determination and focus that would crown them the victor, not to mention a little help from the wind and two costly turnovers by the Bulldogs.

The Leopard's would receive the opening kickoff and drive the ball down the field against a physical and quick defense.  But in spite of the Bulldog's speed, the Leps were able to move the ball down to Marlin's 31.  What looked like a first down on fourth and an inevitable touchdown turned out to be a recovered fumble by Marlin stopping LG's initial drive.

The Bulldogs would take possession, but would be forced to punt. However, on their next possession, Modkin would be able to take advantage of the wind and complete a 33-yard pass which would set up a touchdown on the next play putting Marlin up by 7.

La Grange would answer with an 11-play drive which would result in LG's first touchdown.  Gunn threw 34 yards to Bouldwin for the score.  Seifert's kick was good making the score 7-7 which would be the score at halftime.

The second half would be much more productive for La Grange particularly in the fourth quarter where they scored 21 points.  Chris Harrison would get the Leps off to a good second half start by delivering a big defensive hit which resulted in a Marlin fumble recovered by Josh Melnar on the Bulldog 17.

With 10:56 left in the third quarter, the Leps would go up 14-7 on a four-yard carry by Gunn and extra point by Seifert.

But just over two minutes later, Marlin would be back up by one.  Modkins would score on a 49-yard run and Smith would convert for two making the score Marlin 15, LG 14.

LG's next drive would be stopped on a tipped pitch, and Marlin would take advantage of the momentum change.

They would score in three plays with a 40-yard pass and another two-point conversion making the score Marlin 23, LG 14.

La Grange would drive to Marlin's 26, but could not convert on fourth down.  Marlin would regain possession, but would be stalled by LG's defense.  Marlin would decide to go on fourth and one from their own 35.  Kevin Ulrich would take advantage of a juggled pitch and drop the Bulldog player for a 7-yard loss and give LG the ball.  Gunn would pass to Terrell Newton to begin the drive and ultimately score on a 4-yard run.  Seifert's kick was good making the score Marlin 23, La Grange 21.

With 9:39 left in the game, Seifert would kickoff to Marlin against a gusty wind.  LG's intentions were to pooch kick the ball, but the wind pushed it back and made it difficult for the Bulldog's to handle resulting in a fumble recovered by Justin Jasek.  The ball would be recovered at the Marlin 28, and Kevin Ulrich would score on a 4-yard run.  The two point conversion would fail, making the score La Grange 27, Marlin 23.  The Bulldogs would fumble the next kickoff as well, but would recover it on their own 25.  LG's defense would hold and force Marlin to punt.  A high snap over the punter's head gave the ball to the Leopards on Marlin's 3.  Gunn would score a touchdown and two-point conversion making the score La Grange 35, Marlin 23 with 5:48 left in the game.

Josh Sulik would help the Leps control the ball and clock with an interception.  Defense would continue to hold; however Marlin would throw a touchdown pass into the end zone on the last play of the game catching the pass with no time on the clock to make the final score La Grange 35, Marlin 29.

The La Grange Leopards traveled to Bob Shelton Stadium in Kyle to take on the La Vernia Bears out of District 27-3A for the Area Championship game on Friday, November 24, 2000. La Vernia was coming into the game with a 10-1 record and would definitely be one of the strongest teams the Leps would compete against.  The first five minutes of the game would be deceiving, though, giving the impression that the Bears were not as dominate as thought to be.  The Leopards would score twice right away.

Shawn Bouldwin would force a fumble, and LG would recover it and score on that possession. La Grange was up 14-0 before the Bears could realize what happened.  However, the Bears would soon get their act together under the leadership of their quarterback, Clint Doege, and running back, Derrick Haese.  The Bears would respond making the score 14-7.  The Leopards would then cushion their lead making the score 21-7.  But La Vernia was not finished; they would go on to score three unanswered touchdowns making the score 27-21 at the half.  Their last PAT would be missed which would ultimately be a deciding factor.

During the second half, the Bears would lose the leadership and talents of Haese to an injury. The Lep defense was aggressive and hitting hard; Haese suffered a shoulder injury. With the Leopard defense's adjustments and without Haese, the Bears were unable to score the entire second half.  In spite of a vast number of penalties, La Grange was able to overcome and score the winning touchdown and extra point.  LG did have several other opportunities to score, but was unable to convert.  With less than 3 minutes left La Grange was in scoring territory again, but would choose to work the clock and secure the victory instead.  Final score:  LG 28, La Vernia 27.

The remaining four teams in Region IV are:  La Grange, Yoakum, Mathis, and Hondo.

The La Grange Leopards traveled to Dripping Springs to host the Ingram-Tom Moore Warriors in the Bi-district Championship game on Friday, November 17, 2000. 

After a week of continual rain, there was great concern over the condition of the field.  However, Dripping Springs personnel rolled and aerated the field leaving it in good playing condition.  La Grange was eager to secure a victory over their first playoff opponent - the Ingram Warriors representing District 26-3A.

The Leopards were somewhat slow in gaining their composure suffering two fumbled pitches within their own 20 at the onset of the game.  The first fumble was recovered by LG, but the second was turned over to Ingram.  Fortunately for La Grange, their defense was able to hold forcing Ingram to attempt a field goal which failed. Ingram was able to slow the Lep offense in the first half, but the defense kept LG in the game.  Adjustments were made at halftime, and the Leps came out and played well the second half.. 

The Leopards lead Ingram 22-0 at the half in spite of not executing to their potential. Second half would see Lep scores from Gunn, Ulrich, Bouldwin, and Urban. Seifert had a great game making all his extra points.

Ingram would get their first score late in the fourth quarter and then would follow it with an onside kick which the Warriors recovered and then drove 50 yards to score their second touchdown. 

Final score was La Grange 57, Ingram 14.