By JERRY BYRD, Journal Sports
It’s not how you start, but how you finish that counts. That’s a good thing for the slow-starting 2023 Byrd Yellow Jackets, who ended the regular season with 42-14 win over Natchitoches Central at Independence Stadium on Senior Night.
“This senior group, more than any other I think they have learned how to overcome adversity more than any other group,” Byrd head Stacy Ballew said. “This whole group is a really, really good group of kids and I commend all of the ones who have stuck with it.”
One of those players who have stuck with it is senior corner J.D. Gallman, who started the year at quarterback and finished at corner.
“This victory means a lot,” Gallman said. “Last year, we lost on Senior Night. We knew we let the seniors down. It was a sad feeling. We didn’t want to come in here and do the same thing. We wanted to get a win at our home field and make everyone proud on our last regular season game.”
After starting the season 0-4, Byrd finished Week 10 at 4-6 and bound for more action in the postseason.
Byrd running back Quinton Hilliard got the Jackets on the board midway through the first quarter when he capped Byrd’s opening 9-play drive with a 19-yard touchdown run.
The touchdown was set up by Byrd’s Malachi Johnson, who took a toss on 40 yards on a fourth-an -two in Byrd territory.
Play was halted at the beginning of the second quarter when Natchitoches Central’s Landon Brosset was injured and face down — motionless – on the turf for approximately 25 minutes while emergency medical service personnel with the Shreveport Fire Department tended to him.
Natchitoches Central first-year head coach Jess Curtis said after the game that Brosset was having back spasms and was transported to a nearby hospital as a precautionary measure.
When play resumed, Johnson took advantage of a cold Chief defense on a 22-yard touchdown run around the right end to give the Jackets a 14-0 lead.
The Chiefs answered, mounting a seven-play, 67-yard touchdown drive which ended with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Owen Smith to Dillon Braxton.
Towards the end of the first half, Byrd would take advantage of Chief turnovers by scoring two more touchdowns. The first came on quarterback Asher Murray’s 44-yard option keep.. Murray’s older brother, Abram Murray, who will graduate early and head to Coral Gables where he will continue his career with the University of Miami, added the extra point to give Byrd a 21-7 lead with 5:09 remaining.
For the past two weeks, the Byrd defense has given up touchdowns with one minute remaining in the first half. This time, the Jackets stopped the Chiefs and the offense was able to take advantage as Hilliard got his second rushing touchdown of the half to give Byrd a 28-7 halftime lead.
Byrd shut down the NCHS run game behind leadership by junior linebacker Sam Greer (11 tackles) and senior linebacker Ashton Fullwood (10 tackles) Other defensive standouts for Byrd included Darell Cottonham Jr., who had three tackles for a loss.
Curtis’ team came out in the second half and made a statement on the opening drive, scoring on another touchdown pass from Smith to Braxton. This one covered 75 yards.
Smith, a sophomore transfer from Calvary Baptist, finished the night with 248 yards passing, completing 14 of 25.
With 13 seconds left in the third quarter Murray connected on a 26-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Booras to make it 35-14.
Byrd’s final touchdown of the night came on a 10-yard run from Malachi Johnson with 1:10 left in the game.
For Johnson, it was the icing on the cake on a night when he had a game-high 161 yards on 10 carries.
“Coach Ballew has been harping all week that this isn’t the end of the season,” senior Grant Johnson said.
“Our new season starts Monday so we got to come back on Monday and get back after it,” Johnson said.
“It” may be some little things Ballew wants his team to improve on as they head into the second season.
“With this group right here, on Tuesday we will be doing tackling drills some more…on Week 11,” Ballew said. “We are going to keep at it and keep working. We are going to work on tackling and getting off blocks, man coverage and zone coverage and try to keep getting better at what we do.”
The season comes to an end for the 2-8 Chiefs. Curtis will regroup, but will have to do so without one of the most highly recruited offensive lineman in North Louisiana, guard Joseph Cryer, who is currently committed to LSU.
The LHSAA will officially release the playoff brackets on Sunday.
Contact Jerry at sbjjerrybyrd@gmail.com
BYRD 42, NATCHITOCHES CENTRAL 14
NC 0 7 7 0 – 14
Byrd 7 21 7 7 – 42
B – Quintin Hilliard 19 run (Abram Murray kick)
B – Malachi Johnson 22 run (Murray kick)
NC – Dillon Braxton 37 pass from Owen smith (Restrepo kick)
B – Asher Murray 44 run (Ab. Murray kick)
B – Hilliard 15 run (Ab. Murray kick)
NC – Braxton 75 pass from Smith (Restrepo kick)
B – Matthew Booras 26 pass from Ash. Murray (Ab. Murray kick)
B – Johnson 10 run (Ab. Murray kick)
RUSHING – NC (31-71), Zion Thompson 17-46; Smith 11-19; Helaire 2-6. Byrd (38-430), Johnson 10-161, 2 TDs; Jontavious Mobery 3-70; Desmond Simmons 16-62; Ash. Murray 2-44, 1 TD; Hilliard 4-37, 2 TDs; Harrison Ayres 2-2.
PASSING – NC, Smith 14-25-2-248, 2 TDs. Byrd, Murray 3-4-0-49, 1 TD.
RECEIVING – NC, Braxton 5-168, 2 TDs; A.J. Scott 3-27; Helaire 3-11; Thompson 1-16; R. Smith 1-13, Team 1-13. Byrd, Booras 2-41, 1 TD; Alex Schoonover 1-8.