By LORI LYONS, Journal Sports
Northwood’s running game put the Falcons ahead early, then the defense fended off a late rally by Woodlawn to prevail 40-22 Friday night in a District 1-4A contest at Independence Stadium.
The Falcons scored five touchdowns, all rushing. Senior running back Tomarcus Keith scored two, and Kyran Johnson, Sam Sneed and Jaxson Bentzler each added one.
Woodlawn senior quarterback Quintin Wilson contributed two touchdowns and ran for two 2-point conversions, and mega-talented senior Brandon Henderson had another TD for the Knights.
Northwood jumped out early and built a 25-8 lead before Woodlawn rallied to make it 25-22 late in the third quarter. But a pick-6 by Northwood’s Jeremiah Townsel and a crucial Woodlawn fumble helped seal the win for the Falcons.
Knights coach Thedric Harris said the score was more lopsided than the actual game.
“It was a tight game throughout most of it,” Harris said. “Our kids played hard. They did an awesome job. We ran the ball well, moved it well and played well at times on defense. We just couldn’t finish them off.”
Said Northwood coach Austin Brown: “Credit to them — they didn’t let us put them away and they came back. We were finally able to wear them down and pull out a couple more touchdowns. What Coach Harris has done there, they’ll be competing for a district championship in the next year or two.”
Northwood, bouncing back from a disappointing loss at North DeSoto in the 1-4A opener last Friday, improved to 4-1, 1-1. Woodlawn dropped to 1-4, 0-2.
North DeSoto 20, Booker T. Washington 14: BTW coach Gary Cooper is pretty sure his team surprised the No. 2 team in Class 4A Friday night. The Lions had North DeSoto tied at 6-6 going into the fourth quarter but couldn’t hang on for the upset.
Aaron Dillard ran for one touchdown and after the Griffins opened a 20-6 advantage, Von’travious Moore caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Devion Stewart.
North DeSoto improved to 3-2, 2-1; the Lions fell to 3-2, 1-1, but earned respect around the league for throwing a scare into the Griffins.
Bossier 16, Southwood 14: The Cowboys suffered another near miss trying to end their long losing skid as the Bearkats built a lead and held on at Memorial Stadium.
Freshman Ray Davenport scored Bossier’s first TD and Derrick Haynes added a two-point conversion, and the ‘Kats never trailed. The second-half was a stalemate after Bossier carried the 16-14 edge into halftime.
Bossier rose to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in District 1-4A. Southwood slipped to 0-4, 0-2 after its 41st consecutive loss (including a pair of 2022 wins that had to be forfeited). Three of the Cowboys’ losses are by a total of 13 points.
Calvary 49, Magnolia School of Excellence 0: It was a major mismatch, the defending Select Division III state champions bringing a 59-game District 1-2A winning streak in against a visitor dressing out only 13 players. But the Mariners competed, although they could not stem the tide.
Calvary quarterback Abram Wardell threw six touchdown passes, all to different receivers as the No. 2-ranked Cavaliers (3-2, 1-1) simply outmatched Magnolia (0-4, 0-2) at Jerry Barker Stadium.
Calvary coach Rodney Guin said most of the game was played with the clock running.
“They just didn’t have the manpower,” Guin said. “I give them credit. They dress out about 13 or 14 people and they still showed up and played the game. Hats off to them because a lot of schools would have just called it. We just had them outmanned.”
D’Arbonne Woods 38, Green Oaks 26: Tovoras Lee ran for three touchdowns and Cortaveus Dorsey had one receiving touchdown but the Giants lost on the road in a District 1-2A game. The Giants are 1-4, 0-2.
Contact Lori at sportslyons@gmail.com