By HARRIET PROTHRO PENROD, Journal Sports
(NOTE – Each Tuesday this season, the SBJ spotlights the staff’s selection as the local “Team of the Week.”)
Sandwiched between a District 1-5A loss to Airline and the final regular-season game at Natchitoches Central was last week’s matchup against Southwood.
For the Byrd Yellow Jackets, it would have been easy to look a little past the Week 9 district game against the Cowboys last Friday night at Independence Stadium –the Cowboys were winless (0-8 overall and 0-5 in district) and the Yellow Jackets (5-3, 2-3) were already assured a spot in the playoffs.
And waiting for them in Week 10 was the team that caused the only blemish on the Yellow Jackets’ 2021 regular-season record. Even worse, the 23-10 loss to the Chiefs spoiled Byrd’s homecoming.
So a little loss of focus against Southwood would be understandable. But that’s not how the Yellow Jackets are built.
“Our kids stay on a pretty even keel,” says Byrd head coach Stacy Ballew. “Win or lose, they’ve come out to practice every week the same. None of us took Southwood lightly. They (the Cowboys) played a really good game against (Captain) Shreve.”
Focused on the task at hand, the Yellow Jackets opened up a 37-0 lead at the half and were able to sit most of their starters in the final two quarters.
Desmond Simmons ended the night with a game-high 106 yards on eight carries – and half of those were for touchdowns. The sophomore running back had a first-half touchdown run of 3 yards and added three more scores in the second half (1 yard, 7 yards, and 64 yards).
The Yellow Jackets’ 58-0 victory over Southwood was a total team effort – between seven offensive scores was a safety and a 61-yard kickoff return by Christian Jones. Starting quarterback Lake Lambert had touchdown runs of 60 and 14 yards, Dixon Poirier had an 8-yard touchdown run, Hunter Thrash had two interceptions and a forced fumble, and Abram Murray was 8-for-8 on PATs.
Once the game was over, then the Yellow Jackets could turn their thoughts toward the Chiefs.
“We’re right where we want to be,” Ballew told his team right after the victory over Southwood. “We are 6-3 with a chance to be 7-3. We play Natchitoches Central next week, and I don’t need to remind you about what happened last year.”
He’s right – he didn’t need to remind them.
“Motivation is not going to be a problem this week,” said Lambert, the senior who has lost just three District 1-5A games since taking over as Byrd’s starting quarterback at the beginning of his sophomore season.
Two of those losses came this year – 63-28 to Benton in Week 5 and 48-28 in Week 8 to district unbeaten Airline – while the third came against . . . you-know-who.
“Playing Natchitoches is a little different than our other district games,” said the second-year head coach. “Our kids don’t run into their kids around town. Because of the distance, it’s different than our games against the other 1-5A teams.”
When GeauxPreps came out with its playoff predictions following last week’s games, Byrd was listed as the possible No. 5 seed in Select Division I with a first-round bye and possible home game in Round 2.
While it’s still a little early to start making plans for the playoffs, Ballew knows the Yellow Jackets are in good shape – no matter who or where they play.
“We’re just taking it one week at a time,” he said. “If we win, the projections probably don’t change much. I’m not necessarily a fan of the first-round bye, but sometimes a bye week can be good because your players will be well-rested.
“We’re just going to concentrate on what we need to do. We want to come out, control the clock offensively, and make sure we’re running to the ball.”
Byrd (6-3, 3-3) and Natchitoches Central (3-6, 2-4) meet Friday night at Turpin Stadium.
Contact Harriet at sbjharriet@gmail.com