By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
In a game in which the losing team scored half-a-hundred, it’s hard to identify a turning point.
But if there were a key moment involved in Mandeville’s 56-50 win over Airline Friday night at Viking Stadium, it might have been this one: when Skippers’ junior running back Nate Sheppard climbed on the bus back in St. Tammany Parish.
Because once he arrived in Bossier City to meet the Vikings in the Non-Select Division I quarterfinals, Sheppard did a little bit of everything.
Check that. He did a lot of everything.
He scored on short runs (1, 5). He scored on long runs (32, 63). He scored on a short pass (4). He scored on an acrobatic, did-we-really-just-see-that pass (17).
Afterward, Sheppard couldn’t even remember if it was six touchdowns or seven that he scored.
“I wasn’t keeping track,” he said. “I was just worried about securing that W.”
The answer was officially six, but he was kind of responsible for a seventh, since he was headed for a touchdown shortly before halftime when he fumbled just before the goal line. Teammate Wesley Price fell on it for the “official” touchdown.
On the other side, Airline‘s Ben Taylor was exactly what you’d expect the state’s passing leader to be. The junior threw for 379 yards, completing 32 of 46, and three touchdowns. He also ran for two touchdowns. He even caught a pass.
Here’s the best indication of what kind of game this was. There were eight times during game when one team scored and the opponent responded with a touchdown of its own on the next possession.
Nobody ever got comfortable, right up until the end when Airline scored with 15 seconds to play and had a shot at the onside kick, which was recovered by Mandeville’s Nate Guidry.
That onside wasn’t unusual in the least, since Airline did it on the opening kickoff and almost every kickoff afterward.
No wonder. The one time they kicked deep, it was returned 89 yards to the Airline 4 by Mandeville’s Michael White.
Airline coach Justin Scogin knew his team was going to have to take chances in the game and the opening onside kickoff was the first of many. There was also a double reverse, an attempted hook-and-lateral and even a “hidden man” onside kick that would have worked had it gone at least 10 yards.
“That’s just what we do,” Scogin said. “It’s what we have done all year. I’m not going to start playing conservative now.”
On the kickoffs that didn’t go out of bounds, Mandeville had starting field position four times in Airline territory. Of those seven kickoffs, the worst first position for the Skippers was at their own 47.
Sheppard rushed for 235 yards and four touchdowns and caught two touchdown passes, neither of which was routine.
The first came at the end of the third quarter when Sheppard bent down to catch a Ben Hendricks pass and almost took a knee while doing it, but scored from four yards out to give the Skippers a lead they would never lose.
“That’s a hard pass for a quarterback to throw across his body,” Sheppard said. “I knew it was going to be low.”
But the highlight-film play of a highlight-filled night came on Mandeville’s first possession of the fourth quarter. On third-and-seven from the Airline 17, Sheppard went on a pass route out of the backfield and turned upfield. Airline linebacker Sincere Walker had perfect position the entire way as they battled for the ball in the back corner of the end zone.
The ball was tipped by Walker, then tipped again, then again, before it started to fall to the ground. Somehow, Sheppard grabbed it from behind before it landed.
“I hit it four times I think,” Walker said. “He just grabbed it right before it hit the ground.”
“I really thought he (Walker) picked it,” Sheppard said. “It kept hitting his hands and I just dove down and grabbed it.”
That didn’t win the game for Mandeville, but it was the first time either team had a two-touchdown lead and, for the first time, a little breathing room.
“There were so many huge plays tonight,” Scogin said. “The ball just didn’t seem to go our way tonight.”
Seeded 21st, Mandeville (9-4) will advance to the semifinals to take on top-seeded Ruston next week. The No. 4 Vikings finished at 10-2.
“It was a great season,” Scogin said. “We set some records and did things right. But it’s hard to put into words right now.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com
MANDEVILLE 56, AIRLINE 50
M 14 7 21 14 – 56
A 15 7 14 14 – 50
M – Nate Sheppard 32 run (Creighton Wilbanks kick)
A – Kenny Darby 15 pass from Ben Taylor (Preston Doerner kick)
M – Ben Hendricks 15 run (Wilbanks kick)
A – Taylor 3 run (Taylor run)
A – Bryson Broome 17 run (Doerner kick)
M – Wesley Price fumble recovered in end zone (Wilbanks kick)
M – Sheppard 63 run (Wilbanks kick)
A – Bob Patterson 8 pass from Taylor (kick failed)
M – Sheppard 1 run (Wilbanks kick)
A – Broome 3 run (Jarvis Davis run)
M – Sheppard 4 pass from Hendricks (Wilbanks kick)
M – Sheppard 17 pass from Hendricks (Wilbanks kick)
A – Broome 19 pass from Taylor (Doerner kick)
M – Sheppard 5 run (Wilbanks kick)
A – Taylor 1 run (Doerner kick)
RUSHING: Mandeville (49-334), Sheppard 31-235-4TD, Isaiah Baham 7-44, Hendricks 11-55-1TD. Airline (24-146), Broome 4-58-2TD, Tre Jackson 8-62, Jarvis Davis 5-22, Taylor 7-4-2TD.
PASSING: Mandeville, Hendricks 7-12-0-84-1. Airline, Taylor 32-46-0-379-3, Jackson 1-1-0-8-0.
RECEIVING: Mandeville, Sheppard 3-33-2TDs, Nate Guidry 1-14, Wesley Price 1-17, Donovan McGowan 1-9, Cooper Todd 1-11. Airline, Broome 9-142-1, Darby 7-113-1TD, Davis 9-81, Bob Patterson 6-43, Taylor 1-8.