By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
VIVIAN – Loyola coach Mike Greene knew he had to do something. Anything.
He watched as North Caddo ran basically the same play over and over again against his defense – an end-around shuttle pass — and the Flyers just couldn’t stop it.
“They weren’t running up the middle at all,” Greene said. “They were just trying to beat us on the outside and for whatever reason, we just couldn’t make the play.”
So what do you do when you need some big plays made in the backfield? You ask your defensive tackle to do it.
Your 134-pound defensive tackle.
Colin Huckabay, who now insists he’s up to 140 from his listed program weight, makes up for his lack of size with quickness. It was on display as the senior led a defensive charge when the Flyers needed it the most in a 57-38 win for Loyola Friday night at Sanders-Prudhomme Stadium.
“Huckabay played one heck of a game,” Greene said. “We were just shooting him through the gap. And the rest of the defensive guys started doing what they were supposed to do.”
It was Huckabay’s penetration through the line that made an obvious difference in the second half as the rest of the Flyers made tackle after tackle in the North Caddo backfield after making none in the first half.
There was a time in the third quarter in which it was seemed as though neither team was going to stop the other. They combined to score on four straight possessions to start the second half and it took a total of 18 plays to do it.
Actually, the Titans never did stop Loyola in the second half as the Flyers scored touchdowns on all five possessions. While Loyola may have figured out how to stop the Titans, North Caddo never figured out how to stop Flyer running back Patrick Gosslee.
The junior broke off big run after big run – he had nine carries of 10 yards or more — on the way to a 220-yard rushing performance, the 14th highest total in school history.
Even more impressive, he became the first Flyer to score five touchdowns in a game since Ethan Stansell in 2016 (and only the fourth to ever do it).
“Gosslee,” said Greene, “ran the hell out of the ball tonight.”
He wasn’t the only one. Senior quarterback Bryce Carpenter ran for 124 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. He also threw for 73 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown pass to Reagan Coyle on the first play of the fourth quarter that gave the Flyers a 42-38 lead they would never lose.
After that, Huckabay led a defensive charge that resulted in tackles for loss by Jac Ebarb, Gosslee, Wyatt Lofton and Jack Budziszewski on the nest two Titans series.
After North Caddo built a 38-28 lead with 6:58 to go in the third quarter, the Flyers scored the last 29 points of the game.
The 50-point outing was the second in two weeks and marks the first time Loyola has done that in back-to-back games since the opening two games in 2012.
After losing the initial three games of this year, the Flyers have fought back to even their record at 4-4 and 3-1 in District 1-2A. They’ll close the regular season with a road game against unbeaten Calvary next week.
North Caddo is now 2-7 and 1-3 in the district.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com
LOYOLA 57, NORTH CADDO 38
LCP 14 7 14 22 – 57
NC 16 6 16 0 – 38
NC – Mason Jackson 11 run (Tray Morris pass from Jackson)
LCP – Bryce Carpenter 5 run (Evan Lirette kick)
NC – Jackson 50 run (Morris run)
LCP – Reagan Coyle 25 run (Lirette kick)
LCP – Patrick Gosslee 17 run (Lirette kick)
NC – Chancellor Washington 1 run (pass failed)
NC – Jackson 22 run (Jackson run)
LCP – Gosslee 22 run (Lirette kick)
NC – Antonio Nelson 42 pass from Jackson (Jackson run)
LCP – Gosslee 10 run (Lirette kick)
LCP – Coyle 6 pass from Carpenter (Lirette kick)
LCP – Gosslee 1 run (Carpenter run)
LCP – Gosslee 17 run (Lirette kick)
RUSHING: LCP (43-277), Gosslee 22-220-5TDs, Carpenter 16-124-1TD, Coyle 4-33-1TD, Jude Gaitan 1-0. NC (28-301), Jackson 25-217-3TDs, Nelson 2-45, Washington 10-18-1TD, Morris 1-1.
PASSING: LCP, Carpenter 6-9-0-73-1TD. NC (19-30-0-145-1), Jackson 18-23-0-136-1TD, Washington 1-6-0-9-0, Morris 0-1-0-0-0.
RECEIVING: LCP, Jake Black 2-22, Gaitan 1-23, Rowen Guthikonda 1-14, Gosslee 1-8, Coyle 1-6-1TD. NC, Washington 7-38, Nelson 6-48-1TD, Morris 5-47, Braylon Champagne 1-12.
