By MATT VINES, Journal Sports
BENTON – A 20-point halftime lead appeared comfortable for Benton on Friday, but Natchitoches Central stormed back in the second half and led with six minutes remaining.
The Benton offense and defense came to life in their last possession each as the Tigers scored and got a stop to come away with a 42-35 win.
Benton (2-4, 1-2 District 1-5A), which snapped a four-game losing streak, mixed the run and the pass to thwart NCHS’s (2-4, 1-2) lone second-half lead, scoring with 2:47 left.
“I’m so proud of my guys,” said Benton coach Reynolds Moore. “It would’ve been easy to fold and quit after losing four straight games, but this has been our best week of practice yet.
“It shows a lot of character from them.”
Quarterback Jeffrey King found Trey Smith from 38 yards, and King ran in the two-point conversion himself to upend the Chiefs’ brief 35-34 edge.
The defense, which surrendered more than 60 points in each of its last two games, accomplished its task.
After Natchitoches Central quarterback Owen Smith converted one fourth down, Benton’s Cole Austin intercepted Smith’s next fourth-down attempt to seal the win.
Earlier, Smith had better luck on a fourth-down try on NCHS’s previous drive, finding Dillon Braxton to move the chains before Braxton scored his second rushing touchdown of the night. NCHS snatched the 35-34 lead with six minutes left, scoring 21 straight points after trailing 34-14 at halftime.
“I was proud of how fought back on the road, but we must learn to play four quarters,” said NCHS coach Jess Curtis. “We left some plays on the field tonight.
“We opened the game poorly, but we made adjustments on the board and between our ears.”
The Chiefs scored two third-quarter touchdowns to dent Benton’s 20-point lead.
“We just came out flat and didn’t get things going like we had in the first half,” Moore said. “(Natchitoches Central) went to a more base defense with a different front that gave us some trouble.
“We hadn’t worked a lot against that this week in practice.”
Running back Greg Manning, who picked up crucial chunks of yardage on Benton’s go-ahead touchdown, set the pace in the first half with three rushing touchdowns.
After both teams traded blows with NCHS leading 14-12 early in the second quarter, Benton reeled off three straight touchdowns to build the 34-14 lead.
King found Trey Smith on a 78-yard bomb for the game’s first score, and then Manning scored on touchdowns runs of 1, 31 and four yards.
King capped Benton’s first-half scoring with a 6-yard scamper.
“We really got into a good rhythm and pushed our tempo,” Moore said. “Natchitoches Central struggled with it during that stretch.”
Benton takes its newfound momentum into a home matchup with Southwood (0-6, 0-3).
The Chiefs start a three-game homestand against Captain Shreve (5-1, 3-0) who thumped district favorite Airline in a 60-35 contest.