By ROY LANG III, Journal Sports
There were plenty of two-way standouts on the opening weekend of high school football, but the occurrence becomes rare as you climb the classification ladder.
Clearly, Benton’s Landon Duggan doesn’t care about norms or stereotypes. He just makes football plays when he’s on the field.
The senior helped the Tigers pull off one of the more impressive victories of the week.
The 5-foot-9, 180-pounder racked up five tackles and four pass break-ups as Benton’s defense suffocated highly-touted Northwood for most of the evening.
He played some offense, too. Spearheading the just-installed Diesel formation as the tailback, Duggan carried the ball five times for 30 yards and a touchdown as Benton scored a 34-12 victory — their second straight Week 1 triumph over Class 4A force Northwood.
Dontravious Williams, Southwood
The Cowboys needed this. Williams delivered.
Williams hauled in a pair of touchdowns Friday, including a 35-yard score in the final 90 seconds of the game, to lift Southwood to its first victory in 18 games.
The Cowboys took the lead on Green Oaks, 14-12, after Williams was on the receiving end of a fade pass from Cornilus Martin. It turned out Southwood needed Williams’ hands one more time.
He came down with an interception on the final play of the game as the Giants launched a desperation pass.
Southwood’s other scoring play was a 25-yard touchdown catch by Williams.
Omarion Miller, North Caddo
Despite playing just one half of football Thursday, this senior was a force on both sides of the ball against Bossier.
Miller hauled in two passes for 94 yards, including an 87-yard touchdown against the Bearkats. Miller also registered a 62-yard pick-6 on defense.
The Titans were declared 46-0 winners at halftime due to dangerous weather conditions.
Brandon Henderson, Woodlawn
Notable performances certainly don’t only come in victories, and Henderson proved that Friday night in Natchitoches.
He tallied six catches for 140 yards and two second-half touchdowns (84 and 24 yards) and helped the Knights put a scare in the Chiefs.
NCHS needed a goalline stand and a game-ending five-minute drive to escape with an 18-14 victory after taking a 12-0 lead two minutes into the action.
Henderson helped the Knights stay in the game with a third-quarter interception at the goal line.
Jamarion Mims, Huntington
There wasn’t a boatload of positives in regards to the 2022 edition of the Battle on the Border at Independence Stadium. In the weeks and months leading up to the event at Independence Stadium, there were cancellations – to the point a youth football game had to be added to fill the Saturday afternoon slot.
Friday wasn’t much better as the opener between Denton Ryan (Texas) and Bryant (Ark.) was cancelled due to weather — even though every other game in the city was played to completion.
However, Huntington certainly impressed to finish off things.
Mims, a 5-foot-6, 150-pound senior, helped the Raiders send a quick message with two early touchdowns during a 58-18 rout of Mansfield.
Contact Roy at roylangiii@yahoo.com