JOURNAL STAFF
FARMERVILLE – Captain Shreve, ranked 8th in the state’s Class 5A Top 10 poll, used a strong first half and held on with some big defensive stops in the second half to defeat Class 3A’s top-ranked team, Union Parish, 31-21 at Doc Elliot Stadium.
“I thought our kids battled. I thought they played really hard,” said a relieved Captain Shreve head football coach Adam Kirby. “First half, both sides of the ball, I was very pleased. Second half, we played extremely hard. We just had too many mental mistakes.”
The Gators (3-0), No. 3 in the Journal’s local Top 10 poll, raced out to a 24-7 first-half lead as senior running back Jayden Edwards rushed for 91 yards on 12 carries. Quarterback Kenyon Terrell passed for 123 yards and his first two passing touchdowns of the season and ran for the third score by halftime.
Shreve’s defense held the Farmers’ star running back Trey Holly to just 61 first-half yards on 11 carries and shut out the Farmers after their first possession – until after halftime, when Holly got going in a big way.
The Gators took advantage of a fumble recovery to start the second half and backup running back Jamarion Otis scored three minutes into the third quarter for a 31-7 lead.
Union Parish (2-1) was not going away, as Holly took his first carry of the second half 46 yards to jump start a nine-play, 80-yard drive capped with a 1-yard plunge.
Shreve’s only turnover of the game led to the Farmers’ second score, an 18-yard Holly scamper, and within four plays the Farmers were within 31-21.
The Gators were forced to punt and senior John Chance pinned the Farmers on their 1 with a 50-yard effort.
Two plays into the drive Holly took off on a 60-yard run to get Union out of the shadows of its own end zone and into Shreve territory. The Gator defense, backed up to its own 14, came up with a fourth-down stop, forcing a fumble recovered by Scotty Simo. Holly kept Union in it by tripping up Simo as he headed toward a scoop and score.
Terrell finished with a season-high 162 yards passing. Jordan Wiggins had five receptions for 103 yards and a 17-yard touchdown. Marquez Stevenson had the other receiving touchdown on a 37-yard score on the Gators’ first possession.
Holly finished with 297 yards on 27 carries and had a 60-yard punt return in the waning seconds of the game. The Shreve defense came up with a sack on the final play.
Edwards, Shreve’s talented senior tailback, was held out of the second half as a precaution after apparently tweaking an ankle. The Gators had a big lead at the time and Otis more than capably replaced him.
“I was proud of our effort. Our execution was pretty bad in the second half,” said Kirby. “We’ve got to learn as a team and we’ve got to mature into looking at the scoreboard and thinking we have a lead and getting comfortable.”
Captain Shreve 31, Union Parish 21
Score by quarters
Shreve | 17 | 7 | 7 | 0 | – 31
Union | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | – 21
Scoring summary
CS – Marquez Stevenson 37 pass from Kenyon Terrell (John Chance kick)
UP – Trey Holly 2 run (Reeder kick)
CS – Chance 28 FG
CS – Terrell 3 run (Chance kick)
CS – Jordan Wiggins 17 pass from Terrell (Chance kick)
CS – Jamarion Otis 1 run (Chance kick)
UP – Holly 1 run (Reeder kick)
UP – Holly 18 run (Reeder kick)
Individual leaders
Rushing – CS (36-182), Jayden Edwards 12-91, J. Otis 12-60, Terrell 11-37, Team 1-minus-6. UP (49-352), Holly 27-297, Jy’Marion Island 14-47, Jordan Hill 8-8.
Passing – CS, Terrell 9-17-0-162, 2 TDs; Brodie Savage 1-1-0-20. UP, Hill 3-8-0-28.
Receiving – CS, J. Wiggins 5-103, Keaton Flowers 2-21, M. Stevenson 1-37, Kiarron Brossett, 1-20, Cam Randolph 1-4. UP, J. Island 2-2.
