Roseboro-Salemburg Middle’s young Leopards opened their season Thursday night with a 34-22 win over Union Middle. Defense, said R-S coach Todd Wheeler, was the key to the victory.

“We started off a little bit sluggishly,” Wheeler said, “but we had a big third quarter. We put a lot of pressure on Union then, forcing turnovers that gave us some quick points.”

The third quarter, he stressed, made the difference in the game.

R-S led after the first quarter 9-6, but Union hung close. The young Leopards added 10 more points in the second frame to take a 19-11 lead into the half.

Then Roseboro poured on the defense, putting 9 more points on the board and, just as importantly, holding the Spartans to only 2 points. By the end of the third, the Leopards were ahead 28-13.

Union didn’t give up, though, finding a rhythm that allowed them to score 9 points in the final quarter to finish the game with 22.

“Overall, I thought we played pretty good for our first game. We’ve got things to work on, but overall I was proud of the team,” Wheeler said.

Leading scoring for R-S was Akili Underwood with 9 points. Nyquand Murphy added 8 points; Tyquan Murphy, 6; Quamaine Williams, 6; Keshawn Bailey, 3; and Zack Tanner, 2.

Roseboro, 1-0 on the season, travels to Midway Middle Monday for a game against the young Raiders. Game time is 4 p.m.