By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
The story line for tonight’s Parkway-Arline game is pretty obvious: one team’s offense vs. the other team’s defense.
Only not in the way you might think.
Sure, Airline has as good of an offense as you would want to see and Parkway is clearly the most dominant defense in Shreveport-Bossier. No doubt that will be a fun matchup.
But this game (7 p.m. at Parkway’s Preston Crownover Stadium) might well be decided on the other side of the ball.
“It’s really all about how well our defense plays and how well their offense plays,” said Airline coach Justin Scogin.
“Part of why our defense has been good this year is because what our offense has done,” said Parkway coach Coy Brotherton. “Our offense has been able to eat up the clock and keep the other team off the field. And that keeps our defense fresh. That’s what is going to have to happen to slow down Airline Friday night.”
Both coaches will admit that this game takes on more meaning than just an important District 1-5A game.
“We are fighting for a good position in the playoffs,” Brotherton said. “We can control that if we win these last two. That’s kind of been our goal; to be at home in the first round.”
“It’s only Week 9,” said Scogin, “but this is our Super Bowl as far as the playoffs are concerned. If we want to get a bye in the first round and be at home in the second round, we have to win. But it’s coming against a really good team.”
Parkway’s offense wouldn’t exactly be described as plodding with two explosive sophomores in quarterback Kaleb Williams and running back Tony Gladney. But the Panthers are less of a quick-strike offense than Airline, which features the state’s leading passer in junior quarterback Ben Taylor (2,866 yards, 37 touchdowns).
Brotherton said his team is averaging almost 16 more plays per game than their opponents because of their ball control.
“We have to play smart and not give up home run after home run,” Brotherton said. “They (the Vikings) are built on the big play and we know that’s going to happen. The key for us is to not panic.”
There are a lot of story lines at play here, not the least of which is that Airline coach Justin Scogin is a former Parkway assistant.
And please, let’s don’t label this as a SoBo vs. NoBo. Parkway (South Bossier) embraces the SoBo tag; Airline (North Bossier) wants nothing to do with NoBo.
“Something will have to give, that’s for sure,” Brotherton said. “We are excited to get to play in a big game like this … it’s pretty cool.”
“I don’t care if we win 7-3 or 42-38,” Scogin said. “I’ll take it and get out of there.”
They may share the same city, but across the river there’s another matchup between two schools that share the same neighborhood. Evangel and Huntington are only 2.1 miles apart and they also have an important game when they meet tonight at Jerry Burton Stadium.
It’s the highlight matchup in District 1-4A.
“These are the kinds of rivalries that start when you are playing pee-wee ball,” said Evangel head coach Denny Duron. “Everybody passes by the other school on the way to their school. Our kids all know their kids. Games like this are timeless.”
Evangel is 5-3 and currently in a tie for second place in the district. The Eagles have won four of their last five games.
Huntington comes into the game at 5-3 and 3-2 in the district. The Raiders need a win to stay alive for a home playoff berth.
“They are really good,” Duron said of the Raiders. “Stephen Dennis is a great football coach and he has really turned that program around.”
In other 1-5A games, Southwood plays Byrd at 5 p.m. at Independence Stadium and Haughton travels to Natchitoches Central.
Other 1-4A games are Northwood vs. Woodlawn at Independence Stadium (8:15 p.m.), Bossier at North DeSoto and Minden at B.T. Washington.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com
AIRLINE (7-1, 4-1) at PARKWAY (7-1, 4-1)
Where: Preston Crownover Stadium
Series: Airline 23-17
Last year: Airline 41-20
Last week: Parkway beat Natchitoches Central 27-26; Airline beat Byrd 42-28
Rankings: Airline #3, Parkway #4 in SBJ Top 10 poll
LHSAA power rankings: Parkway #16; Airline #4 Non-Select Div. I
Radio: none
Notables: Airline averages 47.9 points per game, Parkway gives up only 3 a game … Airline might need to win to keep its No. 4 power rating with a winless Southwood team scheduled for next week … Parkway will finish its regular season at Benton … Airline QB Ben Taylor continues to lead the state in passing with 2,866 yards and 37 touchdowns … WR Jarvis Davis Jr. is second in the state in receiving yards with 967 … Parkway sophomore quarterback Kaleb Williams has thrown for 1,267 yards to rank third in the Bossier Parish … Antonio Gladney has 827 yards rushing on 128 carries and 10 touchdowns.
EVANGEL (5-3, 4-1) vs. HUNTINGTON (5-3, 3-2)
Where: Jerry Burton Stadium
Series: Evangel 10-1
Last year: Evangel 21-14
Last week: Huntington lost to North DeSoto 50-24; Evangel beat Minden 56-0
Rankings: Huntington #6 SBJ Top 10, Evangel #5 SBJ poll
LHSAA power rankings: Huntington #13 Select Div. I; Evangel #12 Select Div. II
Radio: none
Notables: Evangel is scoring 38.1 points per game, Huntington 31.8 … ECA quarterback Peyton Fulghum has completed 69 percent of his passes for 1,972 yards and 20 touchdowns … Parker Fulghum has caught 48 passes for 943 yards and 10 touchdowns … Senior Jamal Jordan has 108 total tackles and sophomore Damari Drake 105 tackles … Gabe Reliford leads the team with 18 tackles for loss among his 77 total … Huntington QB Lorenzo White has thrown for 1,311 yards …. Marcus Willis led the Raiders with 625 yards on 78 carries … Kaleb Tucker and Preston Summage both have 30 receptions with Tucker accumulating 594 yards and eight touchdowns and Su.mmage 375 yards … Derrick Edwards is the Raiders leading tackler with 72, eight for loss … Joemiah Robinson is next with 51 stops … Nehemiah Barrett has eight sacks. Next year, both teams are expected to move up to Class 5A.