JOURNAL STAFF
Finishing the regular season strong, and improving their postseason stock are objectives tonight for Parkway, Benton and Byrd in a pair of District 1-5A games locally.
Parkway is at Benton and Byrd hosts Natchitoches Central at Independence Stadium.
Parkway will host a first-round playoff game with a win while Benton might still need to win to make the playoffs. The Panthers are currently ranked 16th, the cutoff for home teams. The Tigers are ranked 25th with the top 28 teams making the Non-Select Division I bracket.
Byrd will use its vaunted running game hoping to get past the Chiefs and improve its No. 18 power rating enough to host a first-round playoff game. NCHS is not in the postseason mix under first-year coach Jess Curtis, but the Chiefs have narrowly missed league wins over Parkway, Benton and Haughton, and played Captain Shreve down to the wire.
PARKWAY (7-2, 4-2) at BENTON (4-5, 2-4)
Where: Tiger Stadium
Series: Benton 12-4
Last year: Benton 28-24
Last week: Benton lost to Captain Shreve 65-33; Parkway lost to Airline 33-16
Rankings: Benton #9 in SBJ Top 10 poll; Parkway #4 in SBJ poll
LHSAA power rankings: Benton #25, Parkway #16 Non-Select Div. I
Radio: Benton (streamed online on The Benton Tigers Sports Network)
Notables: Benton head coach Reynolds Moore is second at the school with 80 wins and tied for 19th on the Caddo-Bossier list with former Green Oaks coach Gerald Kimble. They are both one win behind former Southwood coach Ron Worthen … The Tigers have given up 60 or more points three times this season … Wide receiver Trey Smith had five catches for 137 yards and four touchdowns in last week’s loss to Captain Shreve … Parkway’s defense held Airline to a season-low 33 points in last week’s loss, but the Vikings scored on four straight second-half series to rally for the win … Panthers’ RB Antonio Gladney is third in rushing locally with 976 yards on 151 carries and 11 touchdowns … the Panthers need a win to host a first-round playoff game … Benton needs a win to assure itself a place in the playoffs.
NATCHITOCHES CENTRAL (2-7, 1-5) VS. BYRD (3-6, 3-3)
Where: Independence Stadium
Series: Byrd 29-9
Last year: Byrd 34-3
Last week: Byrd beat Southwood 37-18; Natchitoches Central lost to Haughton 36-35
Rankings: Byrd #8 in SBJ Top 10 poll
LHSAA power rankings: Byrd #18 Select Div. I; NCHS #40 Non-Select Div. I
Radio: Byrd (The Tiger 1130 AM, 103.3 FM); NCHSChiefslive.com, 107.1 FM Many.
Notables: Byrd had 333 yards rushing in last week’s win … that was the sixth time on the year the Jackets have run for more than 300 yards … the Jackets average 291.7 yards per game rushing and 6.1 per rush … wingback Malachi Johnson leads the team with 725 yards on 71 carries, 10.2 per carry and 13 touchdowns … fullback Desmond Simmons has 587 yards on 123 rushes … Natchitoches Central has lost each of its last two games by one point … The Chiefs’ leading rusher on the season, Zion Thompson, had a season high 204 yards on 26 carries and two touchdowns. He now has 862 yards on the season with 10 touchdowns. Both teams average scoring 29 points a game. NCHS played last week without the state’s leading receiver, Cam Davis (ankle), and his status is uncertain tonight … Chiefs’ QB Owen Smith, a sophomore, is a Calvary Baptist transfer who ranks among state passing leaders.