JOURNAL SPORTS
SPRINGHILL — After seeing a big lead evaporate but getting down to the final seconds last week in a heartbreaking opening loss at Bossier, the North Caddo Titans were hoping for a better fate Friday night against North Webster.
But after holding penalties wiped out big gainers on the Titans’ first two plays from scrimmage, the Knights’ defense took over, and soon, the Knights’ offense did, too.
North Webster roared to a big halftime lead and kept North Caddo scoreless until the late stages of the matchup on the way to a 49-16 triumph by the 3A Knights (1-1) over the 2A Titans (0-2).
North Caddo raced to a 20-0 lead last week at Bossier, but the Bearkats recovered and escaped with a 46-38 decision. The Titans missed on a scoring pass at the end of play that could have led to overtime.
Friday night, they just couldn’t get out of the blocks against the Knights, said head coach Chase Thompson.
“North Webster did a really good job of corralling us tonight and kept us to meager gains,” he said.
“We never rebounded after those two penalties wiped out the big runs, and it got ugly fast. It was a pretty meager first half showing,” Thompson said. “We scored a couple of second-half touchdowns to make it look manageable, but it was a pretty sad day for the Titans.”
North Caddo was hit for 70 yards in penalties by halftime, and by then, the game was out of reach.
Former Calvary Baptist player Tug McGlothan ran for two touchdowns and caught a TD pass to lead the Knights’ attack. J’Kobe Lawson scored three different ways – he had a punt return touchdown, a rushing touchdown, and a receiving TD.
Braedon Robertson had a 75-yard scoring burst for North Webster. Sophomore Christian Whitlock threw three TD passes and also went 7-for-7 kicking extra points.
“Tug McGlothan is a very outstanding football player. He made some really brilliant plays against us with the ball,” said Thompson.
Despite the rough night, he found some building blocks for the Titans.
“I’m very impressed with a few players in particular. Tray Morris, our running back, he played his heart out, going both ways on offense and defense all night. Chancellor Washington is another kid who is a leader for us, encouraging teammates, keeping positive, keeping the locker room together.
“Our quarterback, Mason Jackson, was under a lot of pressure tonight, didn’t have many opportunities to throw. But he’s electric when he gets the ball and we’ve got to find opportunities get our athletes into open space. We have explosive athletes and we’ve got to continue to be inventive.”
North Caddo finally gets home next Friday and has a promising opportunity as beleaguered Bolton High visits from Alexandria. The Bears have been outscored 110-6 in two losses.
“We’re not ready to throw in the towel, no sir,” said Thompson. “We’re ready for Bolton to come to town next week and we’re excited about the chance to go 1-0 in the week to come.”
GENERAL TRASS 42, MAGNOLIA PREP 6: The Mariners opened their home season with another challenging opponent, and couldn’t keep pace with the talented Panthers (1-1).