JOURNAL STAFF
Airline and Northwood meet up for the final District 1-5A vs. District 1-4A clash of the pre-district season as both teams will jump into the respective district seasons next week. The Vikings lost to 1-4A’s North DeSoto in week 1 while Northwood fell to 1-5A Benton the first week of the season.
Evangel will entertain top-ranked and defending Class 4A state champion Westgate at Bossier High School. Southwood goes for its third straight win against Carroll, who is also undefeated but did not play the first week of the season. Undefeated North Caddo (2-0) will be in Alexandria to face Bolton.
Airline (0-2) at Northwood (1-1), Jerry Burton Memorial Stadium
Series: Airline leads 4-0
Last year: Did not play
Last week: Airline lost to Union Parish 26-22; Northwood beat Wossman 35-0
Rankings: Airline received votes in SBJ poll; Northwood is No. 7 in SBJ poll, No. 6 in LSWA 4A poll
Radio: Northwood (Miracle, 89.1 FM)
Notable: The Falcons had two linebackers return last week (juniors Kaden Terry and Teago Hicks) and will pick another this week when Christian Blackmon returns. “They made an immediate impact,” head coach Austin Brown said … This will be the final tune-up for the Falcons before District 1-4A begins … As for facing the Vikings, “they are certainly better than their record shows,” Brown said. “They are running a new system so they have had a lot of turnovers. They could have won either game without that” … The Falcons are familiar with the offensive system of new Airline coach Justin Scoggin, who was at Leesville before becoming Vikings coach this year. The Falcons played the Wampus Cats in 2019 and 2020.
Airline has tripped on its own cleats with 12 turnovers in its two season-opening losses … Until last year’s 1-9 season, the Vikings had been to the playoffs in three of the past four falls … Airline’s versatile senior receiver Cameron Jefferson has missed the first two games with a bad ankle; his availability is a game-time decision … soph QB Ben Taylor leads in SBJ passing yards: 473, 45-82-5, 4 TDs … senior WR Daxton Chavez leads in SBJ receiving yards with 235 on 17 catches and 2 TDs.
Carroll (1-0) vs. Southwood (2-0), Lee Hedges Stadium
Series: Southwood leads 2-1
Last year: Did not play
Last week: Carroll beat Green Oaks 40-6; Southwood beat Woodlawn 8-0
Rankings: none
Radio: none
Notable: This will be their first meeting since 2008, when Carroll won 36-8 in 2008. Last week’s victory over Woodlawn gave the Cowboys their first 2-0 start since 2006 … Southwood will have everybody back this week … Cowboys defensive coordinator Desmond Lenard is a Carroll alum … “It’s going to be physical,” Southwood head coach Jesse Esters says of the matchup. “They have two very big and athletic defensive ends. We’ll have to get our guys ready to neutralize them” … Esters says that while the Bulldogs believe in speed on offense, the Cowboys will counter with their speed … “There’s not going to be anything different from us. We’ll line up and see if they are ready to play some football. I believe in my guys, the coaches, and the team.”
Westgate (2-0) at Evangel (1-1) – Bossier High School
Series: First meeting
Last year: First meeting
Last week: Westgate beat Lake Charles Prep 20-12; Evangel beat Mansfield 42-38
Rankings: Westgate is No. 1 in LSWA 4A poll; Evangel is No. 10 in SBJ poll
Radio: none
Notable: The game has been shifted from Rodney Duron Field to Bossier High’s Memorial Stadium because of field damage resulting from playing in heavy rains in Week 1 in the Neville at Evangel game … Evangel is the SBJ Team of the Week for its performance in the win at Mansfield last week … Peyton Fulghum tossed two touchdowns in Week 2 and added another on the ground … the first Fulghum-to-Fulghum (brother, Parker) score of the season came from 19 yards out to put the Eagles up two scores on Mansfield in the second half … the Eagles will face Bossier High in Week 4.
North Caddo (2-0) at Bolton (1-1)
Series: North Caddo leads 3-0
Last year: North Caddo won 50-14
Last week: North Caddo beat North Webster 40-18; Bolton beat BTW 39-36
Rankings: North Caddo is No. 9 in SBJ poll; No. 5 in LSWA 2A poll.
Radio: North Caddo (KNCB 1320 AM, K104 FM)
Notable: North Caddo coaches didn’t realize it during their game against North Webster, but when they watched the film they realized what a night that senior defensive tackle ZaDarrin Evans had. Evans had 10 tackles, which is a career-high and also a single-game high for the Titans … North Caddo has scored 40 or more points in both games this season. While a big part of that is running back K.J. Black and Omarion Miller, Kavanaugh has been pleasantly surprised with how quickly the offensive line has come together. A big part of that is freshman starter Cory Brown … Friday’s game at Bolton will be the first of three straight road games. After going to Bolton, North Caddo will head to Neville during week four and then West Ouachita in Week five.
Plain Dealing (0-2) at Lakeside (1-1)
Series: Plain Dealing leads 5-1
Last year: Did not play
Last week: Plain Dealing lost to Lincoln Prep 48-20; Lakeside beat Ringgold 46-12
Rankings: none
Radio: none
Notable: Plain Dealing won the last meeting in 2016, 60-26 … The trip to Sibley will be Plain Dealing’s first road game of the season … The Lions’ Jayden Ray is a 5-4, 117-pound freshman with one tackle so far — but he made it count: it was a sack that resulted in a fumble and a safety … Lions coach Clint Walker: “We competed last week but we’re still making a lot of mistakes. Hopefully, this week we will compete better against Lakeside. We feel like we can match up well with them, it just depends on our kids and our thinking: we are focusing a lot of effort into controlling what we can control.”
Photo courtesy ADAM WILLIAMS, Airline High
