By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
Airline scored on its first 10 possessions Friday night – not in basketball, this was football — and almost lost.
Vikings quarterback Ben Taylor posted a career-best 580 yards as he became the eighth 10,000-yard career passer in state history (10,037 yards), and he matched his career high with seven touchdown passes.
But his coach, Justin Scogin, was bemoaning not letting Taylor (who was 37 of 52) keep the throttle open down the stretch against Captain Shreve at the Gators’ Homecoming game in Lee Hedges Stadium.
And first-year Shreve coach Jeremy Wilburn was bent over in misery postgame, after a trick play he called went haywire on the Gators’ bold bid for a go-ahead two-point conversion with 65 seconds remaining.
Airline senior linebacker Jayden Gladney led Vikings defenders who sniffed out the misdirection, a sideways lateral screen left to offensive guard LJ Prudhomme off a fake sweep right to Jamarcea Plater (school-record 322 rushing yards).
Then Gladney closed the door on a mind-blowing 69-68 Vikings win by cradling the Gators’ ensuing onside kick, keeping Airline perfect at 5-0 overall, 4-0 in District 1-5A. Not a typo — 69-68 final.
Captain Shreve set a single-game school scoring record – and lost. The Vikings were six points shy of their best, posted in a 2022 75-59 win over Benton.
“It was crazy,” said Taylor. Echoed by his counterpart, Shreve’s Brodie Savage, who threw for four touchdowns. And Vikings’ receiver Jarvis Davis Jr., who caught 14 passes for 267 yards and two TDs. And Scogin, who rued how his suddenly conservative playcalling in the closing minutes helped door open for Shreve’s comeback.
“The biggest issue was my mismanagement of the last seven minutes. I’m still a fairly young head coach. It’s hard to manage; you don’t want to get in that ‘let’s run it three times and punt and be excited’ mode. The second-to-last series, there are things I’d probably do differently. Some nights you just make stupid decisions. Some nights you’re the windshield, and some nights, you’re the bug.”
The Gators (3-2, 2-2) trailed by 20 twice. They were down by two touchdowns three times in the second half, including most of the fourth quarter, until the defense forced four straight incompletions just past midfield with 3:41 remaining to halt the Vikings’ run of 10 consecutive series ending in touchdowns. It was 69-55 for all of 11 seconds, the time it took for Car’darrian Devers to get open deep down the middle, catch a Savage pass and juke out a defender on a stunning 51-yard strike that got Shreve within seven.
Energized, five plays later, the Gators forced Airline’s only punt and took over at the Vikings’ 48 with 2:21 remaining. Another five snaps, and following a 19-yard connection between Devers and Savage, the game hung on Shreve’s two-point try.
Why go for the lead and not let Wyss kick to tie it at 69?
“We were gassed. They were gassed. We had a chance to win. We had no more timeouts, and I wanted to put the pressure on them to have to go get it,” said Wilburn. “I didn’t want any overtime. We had pushed it as far as it could go.”
Watching from the Airline sideline was high anxiety for Scogin, Taylor, Davis and company.
“Don’t get me wrong, I was nervous,” said Scogin. “We’ve been pretty good in late-game situations, both sides of the ball. But I didn’t want to have to go the length of the field in the last minute if we could avoid it. I was thrilled when we made the play.”
As for the exotic play call, when oh, by the way, Plater had averaged 11.5 yards per carry and scored four TDs on 28 runs, it was quite a surprise to everybody but Gladney and a couple of his Airline teammates. Wilburn liked the idea, Savage flipping back to Prudhomme, until it unfolded badly.
“We’d been working on a play with him, kinda saved it. LJ was gassed. Wasn’t the right time. I should have put our guys in a better position to be successful there. It wasn’t the best call I could have made. And they made a play on defense.”
That was rare in a game that ranks as the most explosive ever played in Shreveport.
Said Wilburn: “They’re a really good offense. Justin’s as good a playcaller as there is. It was fun for me to go against him in that manner. We just made a couple more mistakes than they did, and still had a chance to win. I’m proud of my guys.”
Mutual admiration society, said Scogin.
“Jeremy Wilburn does a phenomenal job calling plays. He sets a lot of stuff up, does a lot of really good things. I can’t say enough about him and where he’s got that program – a lot better than we were in my first five games.”
As for Taylor, iconic local statistician and historian Lee Hiller, a former Captain Shreve kicker for Hedges, midway through the final period wondered aloud if the Airline senior had reached the 10,000-yard mark.
“You mean in this game?” responded a colleague.
It felt that way.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com
SCORING SUMMARY
Airline 22 27 13 7 – 69
Capt. Shreve 15 14 19 20 – 68
A – Kenny Darby 36 pass from Ben Taylor (Taylor run), 9:14 1st, Airline 8-0
CS – Jamarcea Plater 15 run (Plater run), 6:29 1st, tied 8-8
A – DJ Allen 10 run (Ben Jump kick), 3:35 1st, Airline 15-8
CS – DJ Waldon 60 pass from Brodie Savage (Zane Wyss kick), 2:10 1st, tied 15-15
A – Micah Johnson 6 pass from Taylor (Jump kick), 0:21 2st, Airline 22-15
CS – Plater 4 run (Wyss kick) 10:16 2nd, tied 22-22
A – Jarvis Davis 1 run (Jump kick), 8:17 2nd, Airline 29-22
A – Davis 76 pass from Taylor (kick blocked), 6:00 2nd, Airline 35-22
A – Darby 35 pass from Taylor (Jump kick), 3:05 2nd, Airline 42-22
CS – Car’darrian Devers 11 pass from Savage (Wyss kick), 0:42 2nd, Airline 42-29
A – Darby 27 pass from Taylor (Jump kick), 0:01 2nd, Airline 49-29
CS – JT Hester 77 pass from Devers (Plater run), 10:24 3rd, Airline 49-37
CS – Wyss 35 field goal, 8:34 3rd, Airline 49-40
A – Allen 1 run (Jump kick), 4:15 3rd, Airline 56-40
CS – Plater 67 run (Devers pass from Savage) 3:46 3rd, Airline 56-48
A – Darby 45 pass from Taylor (kick failed), 2:15 3rd, Airline 62-48
CS – Plater 24 run (Wyss kick), 11:45 4th, Airline 62-55
A – Davis 7 pass from Taylor (Jump kick), 9:34 4th, Airline 69-55
CS – Devers 51 pass from Savage (Wyss kick), 3:30 4th, Airline 69-62
CS – Devers 19 pass from Savage (pass failed), 1;05 4th, Airline 69-68