By LORI LYONS, Journal Sports
Last week Evangel trailed by two scores to Benton before the Eagles took possession. The tables turned Friday night in ECA’s 55-27 District 1-5A triumph over visiting Haughton.
The Eagles’ national passing leader, sophomore quarterback Peyton “Pop” Houston, had another big night in a District 1-5A game at Rodney Duron Field.
The Eagles led 14-0 less than four minutes into the game and scored on their first four possessions. But Haughton scrapped back and was within a touchdown coming down the stretch in the second quarter.
Houston threw his third touchdown pass to put the Eagles ahead 34-20 with less than three minutes remaining in the first half. He added a running TD while ECA running back Josh Isaac scored a pair of rushing touchdowns as Evangel got control in the second half.
Houston threw for 276 yards and four touchdowns, going 14 of 22, and had 50 yards rushing on four tries with another TD. Isaac ran for 146 yards on 12 carries.
Dae Dae Drake scored twice. Johnny Casey had 73 receiving yards on four catches including a TD while Demarkus Evans and Jayden Hicks also caught scoring passes.
Evangel improved to 3-5 overall with its second straight win and moved to 2-4 in 1-5A. Haughton dropped to 2-6, 1-6.
NORTHWOOD 42, SOUTHWOOD 0: With a couple of offensive players out with injuries, Northwood coach Austin Brown had to rely on his defense Friday night in a District 1-4A game and a couple of them came through on offense.
“They showed up tonight,” Brown said.
Jeremiah Johnson, a two-year starter at safety, scored three touchdowns for the Falcons (7-1, 4-1) in his first game playing on the offensive side. Justin Johnson, another defensive back, had a 60-yard touchdown catch – one of four touchdown passes thrown by quarterback Jaxson Bentzler.
Kaden Stone and Tomarcus Keith also had touchdowns.
“(The outcome) was expected,” Brown said. “But I’m happy with my team. Regardless of the opponent, we did what we needed to do.”
Southwood fell to 0-7, 0-5 and stretched the state’s losing streak to 44 straight games.
NORTH CADDO 34, GREEN OAKS 24: Chancellor Washington had two early touchdowns to pace the Titans to a quick 20-0 lead. Tray Morris was a force on both offense and defense with a couple of quarterback sacks, and a fumble recovery. Antonio Moore and Mason Jackson also had notable outings according to NC coach Chase Thompson.
“We really controlled the line of scrimmage at the beginning of the game and our defense was pretty stifling for a while there,” Thompson said. “We got a lot of pressure on their quarterback. In the second half we played smart football and controlled the clock. They were able to get a couple of touchdowns there at the end. I’m excited about the way we played. It was a great day to be a Titan.”
Montavious Kelly caught one touchdown pass for the Giants and Tovaras Lee ran for a 2-point conversion. Ethan Robinson ran for a touchdown and Keshawn Williams caught the 2-point conversion. Late in the game Cortaveus Dorsey had a kick return for a touchdown, followed by a 2-point conversion run by Lee.
NORTH DESOTO 55, WOODLAWN 6: The Knights fell to 3-5, 2-3 in District 1-4A with their second loss in a row, falling to the state’s second-ranked Class 4A team.
MINDEN 41, BOSSIER 2: Minden head coach Spencer Heard picked up his 70th win and increased his personal streak to 7-0 over Bossier on homecoming night at Memorial Stadium. The Bearkats lost their third straight game to fall to 3-5, 1-4 in District 1-4A.
Contact Lori at sportslyons@gmail.com