By MATT VINES, Journal Sports

BENTON — Captain Shreve had more points than offensive plays (39) Friday as the visiting Gators outdistanced Benton in a 53-35 District 1-5A win.

Shreve quarterback Brodie Savage threw for four touchdowns and 293 yards on 11-of-16 passing, averaging nearly 30 yards per completion.

Jamarcea Plater had his second straight 200-yard rushing total for the winners, posting 249 yards on 21 carries with TDs of 3 and 1 yards to go with a 10-yard score on a Savage pass.

The Gators averaged 13.9 yards per play, piling up 542 yards. Benton had 507 total yards on an astonishing 95 snaps.

Receiver Cardarrian Devers was on the other end of two of those explosive passes. He scored from 78 yards to boost the Gators to a 14-7 edge, then snared a 75-yarder to put Shreve on top to stay, 20-14, midway through the second period. He finished with 175 receiving yards on four catches.

Benton (0-4, 0-3 District 1-5A) sliced the lead to 27-21 in the third quarter, but Captain Shreve (3-1, 2-1) scored four of the next five touchdowns to pull away.

“Benton came out in a different defensive structure than we were expecting, and we had to make some adjustments each drive once we got into the flow of the game,” said Shreve coach Jeremy Wilburn. “Our passing game came alive tonight in some one-on-one situations because they were focused on stopping (Plater).

“We had some guys step up to the plate in the passing game, and that made an impact.”

A balanced Shreve attack rushed for 249 yards and passed for 293.

The Benton offense got 32 first downs, but the Tigers struggled to finish drives. Quarterback Malachi Zeigler ran for 132 yards on 21 carries, including a 10-yard TD, and threw for two more scores (21, 4 yards) on 12 of 24 aim for 140 yards.

“Defensively, we are starting to find our identity as we have a lot of new starters settling into their roles,” Wilburn added.

According to the Benton radio crew, it’s the first time in program history for the Tigers to start 0-4.

Benton steps out of 1-5A and will face one of the state’s top running backs in Xavier Ford next Friday when the Tigers host Leesville. Captain Shreve will do battle with unbeaten Airline next week at Lee Hedges Stadium.

Contact Matt at sports@journalservicesllc.com