By ROY LANG III, Journal Sports
Cooper DeFatta was a passing fancy Friday night.
The Loyola linebacker-turned-quarterback had thrown only seven touchdown passes in nine regular-season games. Friday night, he passed for five touchdowns (second-most in school history), 211 yards (a career high) and ran for 78 yards, including a 19-yard score as the Flyers posted a school-postseason record 61 points in a dominating first-round victory against St. Thomas Aquinas.
“Unbelievable,” Loyola head coach Mike Greene said of his quarterback. “You see him running around on that play and he just kept going. He played a hell of a game. I hope he saves some of that for next week.”
Colin Rains, Haughton
The senior quarterback carried the load for the 27th seeded Bucs, who upset No. 6-seeded Airline 36-26 in the first round of the Non-Select Division I playoffs. Rains had 218 rushing yards with 2 passing TDs, 1 rushing TD, and 1 receiving TD. Arguably, his biggest run is buried in the statistics as Rains’ 31-yard keeper on third-and-14 with 3:30 left in the game kept the Bucs’ 8-play, clock-eating drive alive, denying the Vikings’ comeback chances.
Greg Manning, Benton
The running back opened the scoring in the Tigers’ first-round playoff victory against Ponchatoula with an 8-yard run. He then closed out the 41-7 triumph with a pair of third-quarter touchdown runs (2 and 8 yards), raising his TD total to 32 this season.
Kenyon Terrell, Captain Shreve
The quarterback ran for 100 yards and two scores and threw for 158 yards and two more scores in the Gators’ victory at Tioga.
Fulghum Bros., Evangel
It’s hard stopping one, but when both are clicking, good luck. Quarterback Peyton Fulghum connected with brother, Parker, for nine passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns in a 60-0 whitewashing of Istrouma on Friday night.
Contact Roy at roylangiii@yahoo.com
