By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
NATCHITOCHES – With no playoffs ahead and only two wins between them, Benton and Natchitoches Central weren’t playing out the string Friday night in a District 1-5A collision at Turpin Stadium.
But in a painfully familiar pattern, the Tigers entered the fourth quarter ahead but headed home on the wrong side of a 41-21 decision.
“Like a lot of games, we had a lead and couldn’t finish it,” said Benton coach Reynolds Moore. “We were limited in what we could do offensively, and some of their adjustments at halftime made it a little harder.”
The Tigers and Chiefs suffered more than their share of agonizing losses coming into Week 10. Among Benton’s bitter disappointments was a one-point loss at Evangel in a game where video appeared to show the Tigers scoring the go-ahead two-point conversion with little time left. A week ago, NCHS had an 11-point lead evaporate in the final two minutes in a 22-point turnaround that went Huntington’s way.
The struggling squads played their final game like a championship was at stake, swapping the lead five times. But Benton, missing starting quarterback Malachi Zeigler for the second straight week, operated with its usually wide-open offense scaled back to a power running package. The Tigers passed only three times in 58 snaps.
“When you’re running it like that, it’s going to be three yards and a cloud of black pellets. You can’t get behind the chains,” said Moore, “and we had too many mistakes in the second half.”
It almost worked. But after Cole Austin gave Benton (1-9) a 21-20 edge in the final seconds of the third period with a mind-bending 28-yard journey through the heart of the Chiefs’ defense, running through three different sets of NCHS (2-8) defenders, everything tilted toward the home team.
Jeremy Lowe took the ensuing kickoff on a sweeping arc from sideline to sideline, then tight-roped his own on an 72-yard runback to the Benton 8. Natchitoches Central moved ahead for good three plays later when quarterback Owen Smith twisted five yards to a 26-21 edge.
“We got the lead, and they came right back after that,” said Moore.
The inspired Chiefs’ defense stopped the Tigers on three plays for the first time in six series. Moore gambled with a fake punt on fourth-and-6 at Benton’s 35, but leading rusher Greg Chambers (28 carries, 132 yards) was halted two yards shy of moving the chains forward.
Moore did not second-guess his call, with the Chiefs on fire as Smith (17-21 passing for 257 yards and three TDs) and his receiving corps were basically unstoppable.
“You had to. If you don’t keep the ball, you have no real shot (to win),” said the veteran Benton coach. “We had the fake punt, but we ran into our own guy, and if not, it was wide open.”
Said winning coach Brad Laird: “That continued the momentum for us.”
Four plays and 39 yards later, Natchitoches Central led 34-21 on a 15-yard Smith to Darrien Anthony strike, and a two-point conversion connection between them.
Benton fought back, moving 52 yards in eight plays, but a pair of 15-yard unsportsmanlike infractions on a Tigers’ lineman at the end of a play at the Chiefs’ 27 stymied the threat. NCHS quickly salted it away, covering 47 yards in five snaps to go up by 20 with 3:13 left.
Two earlier penalties, holding flags, scuttled Benton’s sustained series opening the third quarter. Two plays later, Smith fired deep downfield to KJ Newton for an 88-yard strike that launched a 29-point eruption by NCHS in the final 18 minutes.
“Not scoring on that first drive coming out in the second half was a big deal,” said Moore.
“I talk about our kids fighting all year, and I’m proud of them,” he said. “I really think Brad’s team has gotten better every week. They’ve played really well at times, and they hadn’t been able to finish either. They outplayed us and deserved to win.”
NATCHITOCHES CENTRAL 41, BENTON 21
Tigers 7 7 7 0 – 21
Chiefs 6 6 8 21 – 41
NC – Owen Smith 14 run (kick failed), 7:40 1st, NCHS 6-0
B – Maurice Goins 5 run (Will Petro kick), 0:37 1st, Benton 7-6
NC – Jordan Carpenter 5 pass from Smith (pass failed), 10:49 2nd, NCHS 12-7
B – Greg Chambers 7 run (Petro kick), 5:10 2nd, Benton 14-12
NC – KJ Newton 88 pass from Smith (Carpenter pass from Smith), 5:29 3rd, NCHS 20-14
B – Cole Austin 28 run (Petro kick), 0:28 3rd, Benton 21-20
NC – Smith 5 run (pass failed), 11:49 4th, NCHS 26-21
NC – Darrian Anthony 15 pass from Smith (Anthony pass from Smith), 8:37 4th, NCHS 34-21
NC – Kerry McGraw 1 run (Mateo Restapo kick), 3:13 4th, NCHS 41-21
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Benton, Chambers 28-132, 1 TD; Austin 16-99, 1 TD; Goins 8-34, 1 TD; Case Austin 3-18, Conner Jeter 4-20; NC, Smith 6-54, 2 TD; McGraw 7-31, 1 TD; Kolton Howard 3-24, Brenden Young 1-3, Caden Kuykendall 1-0, Imari Speed 1-minus 2.
PASSING – Benton, Case Austin 1-3, 8; NC, Smith 17-21, 257, 3 TDs; Newton 1-1, 14.
RECEIVING – Benton, Rydon McCormick 1-22, Will Gibson 1-minus 14; NC, Newton 6-135, 1 TD; Carpenter 5-37, 1 TD; Howard 3-54, Anthony 2-29, 1 TD; Mason Britain 1-8, DaMykael Castle 1-5.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com