(NOTE TO READERS – As 2025 approaches, the SBJ is featuring some of our favorite content from this year. This game coverage of Airline’s 69-68 win over Captain Shreve originally ran in the Journal on Oct. 5. More favorites will follow before New Year’s Day. Enjoy!)

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

(NOTE TO READERS – As 2025 approaches, the SBJ is featuring some of our favorite content from this year. This Ron Higgins column originally ran in the Journal on March 13. More favorites will follow before New Year’s Day. Enjoy!)

BATON ROUGE — The more I read and hear the last couple of days from national journalists that LSU head women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey is a soulless terrible human being and a Salem witch on the bayou. . .

“As a leader of young people, she leaves a lot to be desired,” writes Paul Newberry of the Associated Press.

The more I realize. . .

“She wears so many feathers and sequins, it’s a wonder there’s any left for the Mardi Gras krewes,” writes Nancy Armour of USA Today.

And the more I understand. . .

“We’ve got to start doing a better job of holding Kim Mulkey accountable and responsible for some of her comments,” said ESPN self-proclaimed sports watchdog Shannon Sharpe, who last season got in a courtside verbal confrontation with two Memphis Grizzlies players during a Lakers’ game.

I’d like to be back in college again and coached by someone as passionate as Mulkey, somebody so demanding of giving it your best and so fiercely loyal about protecting her players.

Elite players like current Tigers’ starters Angel Reese, Aneesah Morrow and Hailey Van Lith transferred to LSU because they wanted to be coached hard by Mulkey, who makes them better players and stronger women for life.

They know when Mulkey opens her mouth, she says what she means, and she means what she says.

It isn’t usually candy-coated. It often isn’t politically correct. And you may disagree with her viewpoint and straightforward delivery most of the time.

But she’s authentic in a business full of phonies and snowflakes selling mountains of malarkey to anyone who’ll listen

Because of that, Mulkey’s always on call to be burned to the stake by the hordes of her haters, angry and aghast that she doesn’t fit in their imaginary little box of what a demure coach of “little ladies” and “gals” should be.

Like her spot-on assessment of the officiating crew of Pulani Spurlock-Welsh, Angelica Suffren, and Kevin Pethtel that allowed Sunday’s SEC championship game won 79-72 by No. 1 South Carolina over No. 8 LSU to turn into a 40-minute street fight full of trash talk, demeaning gestures, hair pulling, forearm shivers to the neck and thrown elbows galore.

It finally culminated with 128 seconds left when LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson’s perfectly legal intentional foul turned into a near-brawl. She shoved aside the second of two Gamecocks mouthing in her face as she walked to the bench, only to be leveled by 6-7 South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso, who took a running start to deliver the cheap shot.

Afterward, South Carolina coach “Saint” Dawn Staley apologized for the fracas, a gesture immediately deemed by internet keyboard warriors as “classy.”

Maybe it occurred to Saint Dawn she should be the one apologizing because she stood frozen in her tracks when Cardoso bull-rushed Johnson.

Mulkey didn’t apologize in her post-game press conference.

Instead, she correctly addressed how the game got to the point of no return.

“Do you realize there was only one foul called on each team with two minutes to play in the fourth quarter?” Mulkey said. “Are you kidding me?

That might have created some of that. Not the way we play. We gonna foul your ass. Not the way they play. They’re going to foul your ass. But you only blew that whistle one time? Think about that now.”

My heavens, Delores. Did that hussy coach just say “ass?”

Staley and Mulkey coach like they played the game once upon as college stars for Virginia and Louisiana Tech respectively. They turn it loose.

They push officiating to the limit until told otherwise. All is fair in love, war and basketball, and that includes shoving, fighting, clawing and jawing for every rebound and every loose ball.

The problem Sunday was the officiating crew didn’t nip it in the bud immediately. They had to see Reese and Cardoso hammering each other in the low post. They had to notice mouthy South Carolina freshman guard Milaysia Fulwiley give the “too small” sign twice when she drove both times past Van Lith. They couldn’t ignore the incessant digs between the teams almost every time someone made a play.

If the officials intended to “let the teams play” and not whistle foul after foul, they certainly accomplished that. But the behavior was never curbed.

Most officiating crews handle such a situation after a couple of excessive fouls or staredowns or whatever is said to aggravate or intimidate. They call both head coaches to midcourt in front of the scoring table and advise they’ll start handing out technical fouls like lunch money if the coaches don’t get their players to cut out the extracurriculars.

What’s even worse is Sunday’s crew, supposedly veterans who have called NCAA tourney and even Final Four games, were clueless beforehand of the emotional temperature that already existed between the Tigers and the Gamecocks.

And especially this time around in their second hotly contested game this season, both won by South Carolina.

With Reese gutting it out on a badly sprained ankle, Johnson playing extended minutes and cramping constantly, Van Lith simply bruised and beat to hell by constant collisions fighting through screens and point guard Last Tear-Poa not playing because of a concussion suffered in Saturday’s semifinals win over Ole Miss, short-handed LSU doubled down on its fight and determination against South Carolina’ 10-player deep roster.

Mulkey recognized how hard her team had played, which is why near the end of her press conference she said the following about the late-game scuffle.

“It’s ugly. It’s not good. No one wants to be a part of that. No one wants to see that ugliness. But I can tell you this: I wish she would have pushed Angel Reese. Don’t push a kid – you’re 6-8. Don’t push somebody that little. That was uncalled for, in my opinion. Let those two girls that were jawing, let them go at it.”

That’s the part of Mulkey’s quote that fueled her critics, questioning if she’s condoning her players’ use of violence and demanding she apologize.

Here’s some advice for the Mulkey haters. You better pack a year’s worth of supplies if you’re camping out waiting for an “I’m sorry” from her.

She’s not apologizing and has no reason to do so.

“I am what I am,” Mulkey said on her weekly Tuesday appearance on the Baton Rouge radio sports talk show Off The Bench. “I have no ill intentions. I have no agenda. I speak from my heart. I speak from my life experiences. And people like it or don’t like it. I have nothing, nothing whatsoever in my heart to harm anybody.”

That’s who she was as a 12-year-old, the only girl playing in an all-boys summer baseball league in Hammond because there were no girl leagues.

That’s who she was as a pint-sized point guard who won four state championships for Hammond High, two national championships for Louisiana Tech and an Olympic gold medal.

That’s who she’s been for 39 years as a college coach – 24 seasons and four national titles as a head coach, 15 seasons and a 1988 national championship as Leon Barmore’s chief assistant at Tech.

That’s who she’s been throughout a career that got her inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021 as part of the Class of 2020.

“I fight like hell,” Mulkey said. “That’s who I am.”

Round 3, anyone?

Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com

JOURNAL SPORTS

There’s a late kickoff, 8:15 Saturday night, for the 48^th Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl pitting 19^th-ranked Army against nearby Louisiana Tech.

There will be an early Sunday morning edition of the Shreveport-Bossier Journal giving you free coverage of what unfolds in north Louisiana’s biggest annual sporting event at Independence Stadium.

The special weekend edition follows in the line of the SBJ’s comprehensive Saturday morning prep football coverage for the third straight season this fall.

This Sunday’s SBJ will also wrap up our high school football coverage for 2024 with the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s Class 5A All-State Team, to be released Saturday. Several local standouts are strong candidates for honors.

Look for the special Sunday edition of the Journal in your e-mail at 6:55 a.m., on ShreveportBossierJournal.com, and on our Facebook page, without any pop ups or pay wall. More bowl coverage will follow in our regular Monday edition.

Thursday:  Showers likely, then showers and thunderstorms after noon. Some of the storms could be severe. Patchy fog before 9am. High near 67. East wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.

Thursday Night:  Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before midnight. Some of the storms could be severe. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Friday:  Partly sunny, with a high near 69. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the morning.
Friday Night:  A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before midnight. Partly cloudy, with a low around 54. South wind around 5 mph.

By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports

Army and Louisiana Tech collide Saturday night at 8:15 in the 48^th Annual Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. They meet twice today.

Teams are expected to attend the Fellowship of Christian Athletes breakfast at 7:30 at Riverview Hall, and this evening at 6 they’ll reconvene there for the “Big Game Welcome Party” featuring a feast that will be new to most members of the Black Knights travel party – fare including whole smoked hogs, bacon-wrapped alligator, jambalaya and king cake. With 37 players from Texas (27), Louisiana (8), Arkansas and Mississippi, Army will not begin eating this evening without a solid scouting report.

Both teams made Christmas Day visits to Holy Angels, the non-profit Shreveport care facility for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Today following a midday practice, the Army team will go to Bossier City’s Northwest Louisiana Veterans Home, which provides care to honorably discharged veterans, spouses of veterans and Gold Star parents.

Army (11-2) arrived early, with its flight landing about an hour sooner than expected, on Christmas Eve. As coach Jeff Monken noted earlier this month, his players are in an unusual status – preparing for a game without having the exceptionally-demanding daily schedule and rigors of West Point campus life.

“They’re really going to enjoy this,” said Monken, who reiterated to local media Tuesday that he has watched the Independence Bowl since he was a boy, and again expressed pride that his Army team gets to compete in a bowl game with a rich history and a strongly patriotic theme.

For the Bulldogs, arrival in Shreveport Wednesday afternoon was an unexpected pleasure. The Bulldogs had collected equipment and gone into offseason mode after finishing a 5-7 season with a 33-0 homefield beatdown of Conference USA bottom-dweller Kennesaw State. But when Sun Belt Conference champion Marshall welshed on fulfilling its invitation to play in Shreveport, and no bowl-eligible six-win teams were left to fill the slot, a hurried shuffle gave Louisiana Tech its first bowl berth since 2020.

Senior defensive lineman Mike Clark told local media Wednesday about his reaction when coach Sonny Cumbie called him asking if he was up to play one more time.

“I said, ‘hell, yeah. Excited, ecstatic.’ (Cumbie) was like, ‘that’s all we need to know.’  (He) put the phone down, made it happen,” said Clark. “Any time you get to play the game, it’s amazing, but obviously the opponent we have is amazing.”

Cumbie unabashedly continued courting the regional fan base Wednesday. Monken has conceded that replacing Marshall with Louisiana Tech results in Army playing what is in essence a road game.

“We understand what an opportunity it is for Louisiana Tech to play in Shreveport at the Independence Bowl. We’re extremely excited for north Louisiana, we’re excited for our fan base and we’re honored to be in this football game,” said Cumbie.

Friday’s focal events are evening festivities at the Louisiana Boardwalk and East Bank District in Bossier City, beginning with a Mardi Gras Preview Parade at 6:30, followed by a Battle of the Bands at East Bank Plaza and a free concert from 8-10.

While heavy storms are in the forecast this afternoon, rain is expected to lessen Friday and clear out Saturday in time for the ESPN-televised game at Independence Stadium.

Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com

 JOURNAL SPORTS

The annual signature local high school basketball event of the non-district schedule, Airline High School’s “Doc” Edwards Invitational, gets a busy three-day run going today at four different sites.

The tournament features 15 girls teams and 18 boys squads, most from the area. Five local girls teams – Airline, Benton, Bossier, Captain Shreve and Green Oaks – are playing. In the boys bracket, Airline, Benton, Bossier, Haughton, Huntington, Loyola, Northwood and Southwood are the local teams. Tupelo (Miss.) will compete in the boys division.

Games will take place at Airline, Bossier, Benton and Cope Middle School. Admission is $10 for daily access to games at any site, as long as the patron picks up a wristband while paying.

Championship, consolation finals and third place games will wrap up the competition on Saturday at Airline.   

The Huntington boys (8-3) are two-time defending champions. Winning last year’s “Doc” Edwards title was a season highlight for the always strong Raiders, who finished 15-13 with a first-round state playoff exit.

Arcadia (12-2) is the defending girls champion. Last year, the tournament title was part of a 33-3 season that finished with a Non-Select Division IV state title for the Lady Hornets.

Opening-round girls games today involving local teams are Benton (11-5) hosting North Webster at 4:30, Bossier (3-8) hosting Ebarb at 1:30, Captain Shreve (12-2) against Summerfield (15-2) in a 1:30 showcase game at Benton, and Green Oaks (1-11) against Jonesboro-Hodge at Cope at 1:30. Airline (8-1) hosts the winner of that game Friday at noon.

Two first-round boys contests pair local teams. Huntington meets Southwood (4-7) in a 3 p.m. game at Bossier. Haughton (7-5) plays Loyola (5-6) in Benton at noon.

Other games today in the boys’ bracket: Airline (3-8) hosts Homer at 4:30, Benton (5-5) hosts the Eunice/Ebarb winner at 6, Bossier (3-5) plays at home at 6 against the Loyola-Haughton victor, and Northwood (5-10) meets Mansfield at Cope at 3.

The brackets divide into championship and consolation fields after the opening round. Follow Journal high school basketball writer Preston Edwards on X at @peedee1906 to track the tournament progress.

 (NOTE TO READERS – As 2025 approaches, the SBJ is featuring some of our favorite content from this year. This story about Haughton High School’s final football game this season originally ran in the Journal on Nov. 9. More favorites will follow before New Year’s Day. Enjoy!)

By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports

HAUGHTON – Jessica and Robby Cubley stood nervously on the Haughton sideline as the Bucs took the field for a first down play from the St. Louis 30. In the backfield, their son Hunter tried to make sure he lined up correctly because he knew this was going to be the biggest play of his life.

“He’s pumped,” Jessica said.

Bucs quarterback Taylor Weathersby took the snap and turned to hand the ball to Cubley. The crowd on the rainy night at Harold Harlan Stadium held its collective breath because everyone knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment.

Cubley waited for a hole to open on the left side of the Haughton line and it did, just as the Bucs’ coaching staff had planned when they drew up the play specifically designed for Cubley. The play is called the “Puddin’ Special” because that’s what everybody calls Hunter.

Once he got through the St. Louis defense, Cubley raced for the goal line, escorted by teammate Preston Peters.

He had done it. Hunter “Puddin” Cubley, the smallest kid on the bench, had scored a touchdown for Haughton.

His teammates raced to the end zone to congratulate him, which was to be expected. What wasn’t as expected was that the St. Louis defensive players did so, too. “Their coach told me they had even practiced that,” Haughton coach Matthew Sewell said.

As he broke through the mass of humanity in the end zone, Hubley emerged and headed toward the Haughton bench, and gave it the Johnny Manziel “money-money” hand gesture. A dream had come true and Cubley was enjoying every last moment of it.

And after that, the Haughton-St. Louis game actually started.

This has not been the greatest of seasons for the Bucs. They came into the game on a four-game losing streak and were at the bottom of the district standings. However, for 10 seconds before Friday night’s game, no one was concerned about that in the least.

It was a night to remember for the Haughton football community to celebrate. They celebrated a 41-20 win over St. Louis to close the season with a 3-7 record. There were 609 yards in total offense, but it was the 30 yards that didn’t count that will probably leave the most lasting legacy.

Yes, you have probably seen it before. A special needs student is given the opportunity to score a touchdown in a situation where everyone knows what is going on. But that doesn’t make it any less significant, especially when you see it played out before you.

When you see the joy in the faces of Jessica and Robby Cubley on the sideline.

When you hear the crowd roar like you’ve never heard before as he crosses the goal line.

When you hear Weathersby say later “it was a special moment for me.”

And even when you see Cubley later in the night on the Haughton bench, still wearing his #84 jersey and the eye black he wore — just for his one play — still smeared all over his face.

You will not find Cubley on the Haughton roster because he’s not actually on the team. But he is always there.

Always.

“He’s not even in our football class,” Sewell said. “But somehow he keeps finding a way to get to practice every day. We practiced at 9 a.m. on Election Day and he was here at 8:30. He just loves Haughton High School.”

Seniors Gus Beaty and Andrew Markray came up with the idea of setting this up to honor Cubley’s undying commitment to a team he’s not even on.

“That’s the great thing about high school sports,” Sewell said. “You don’t have to actually be in the game for it to impact you. It’s really special to see a kid like that and what it means to him. And to see what it means to everybody.”

Cubley’s 30-yard run was a foreshadowing of what was to come from the Bucs, who had six plays longer than that against St. Louis for their top offensive output of the year. Weathersby had his third straight game of 350 yards or more, completing 15 of 22 for 374 yards with four touchdowns.

Zu Davis and Jakobe Delaney each caught two TD passes.

Helped by a 98-yard run with 1:01 to play, sophomore Brandon Craig ran for 159 yards on 11 carries.

And senior Hunter Cubley had one carry for 30 yards. That might not show up in the statistics, but make no mistake about it.

It counted.

Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com

(NOTE TO READERS – As 2025 approaches, the SBJ is featuring some of our favorite content from this year. This Bob Tompkins column originally ran in the Journal on Sept. 4. More favorites will follow before New Year’s Day. Enjoy!)

Dear Coach Kelly:

Tough loss Sunday night. I commiserate. It must be embarrassing to suffer your third straight season-opening loss as LSU’s head coach, which was the fifth straight season-opening loss for LSU. Might need to start scheduling Cream Puff U for the opener to get over that hex.

Nonetheless, it’s admirable that unlike most of the power conference schools, LSU offered college football fans a game on the opening weekend of college football worth anticipating and watching. LSU vs. Florida State the last two years. USC this year. Good stuff. That’s why it was the only college game on network TV Sunday night.

But 0-for-3 in opening games? What gives?

This team, we kept hearing in the preseason, will not likely be as explosive offensively as last year’s team led by Heisman Trophy quarterback and first-round draft choice Jayden Daniels, but the defense, which was horrible last year, would be improved, especially after spending $16.11 million to bring in an entirely new defensive staff. Ask not what your checkbook can do for you; ask what your defensive coaches can do for your checkbook.

Granted, the defense is better. The 447 yards your Tigers gave up to the Trojans’ offense looked like Eggs Benedict compared to the molded mini sausages served up by the defense in recent years. Holding a nationally-ranked team to just 10 first-half points is an all-too-rare  positive.

But, Coach, one sign of a disciplined team, a well-coached team, is one with few penalties, especially stupid unsportsmanlike penalties. Do you and your assistants not coach the players to act with class? Do you forbid unbecoming celebrations after big plays and touchdowns – something, unfortunately, all too prevalent in the NFL? Why provide your opponent incentive to dig deeper for stamina and resiliency? That’s what receiver Kyren Lacy did after his talented 19-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter that merely tied the game, by pantomiming shooting a gun at the USC defender he had just beat.     

Those kinds of penalties can take a toll. It forced LSU to kick off from its own 20 instead if its 35, and helped Zachariah Branch, a dangerous return specialist, to motor 46 yards, setting up a 22-yard field goal.

Coach, it was cool that Jayden Daniels was one of three Heisman winners on the sidelines, along with Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart from USC, and it was also cool that Daniels’ replacement at quarterback, did so well. Garrett Nussmeier completed 29 of 38 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns. Yes, he had that one interception virtually at game’s end, when Tiger fans could only dream of a “Bluegrass Miracle” type play, but he was impressive, not only with his passing but with his coolness under fire and his leadership.

He cannot run like Daniels did so often, but you assured us he didn’t need to, because the running backs would take care of business. Now, when LSU drove to its one lead of the game, running back John Emery Jr. looked good, slashing for runs of 39 and 10 yards. Made Tiger fans glad he came back after testing the waters in the transfer portal. But, other than that, where is the vaunted running game?

And where is the offensive line that was supposed to be among the best in the nation? And what’s up with senior preseason All-American Will Campbell being flagged for a false start?  

Speaking of false starts, Coach, are you channeling former coach Les Miles, whose teams were infamous for that kind of thing?   And speaking of penalties (10 for 99 yards), what about the unsportsmanlike (there’s that word again) penalty against senior defensive back Major Burns?

After a fourth-down stop by the defense in the final quarter, with LSU leading 17-13, Burns removed his helmet on the field, apparently to celebrate, and LSU was penalized 15 yards to start its ensuing offensive series. Which went nowhere.

And what happened to junior star linebacker Harold Perkins, who made just one solo tackle against the Trojans? And is the target in proper tackling coached by your staff the runner’s torso, or shouldn’t it be the legs, which seems a better way to cut ’em down?

Yet, I do sympathize with you, Coach. Some of the same fans who hailed you after you boldly went for 2 in overtime and it paid off against Alabama two years ago, are saying they’ll never forgive you after Sunday night’s loss.

The same folks who criticized you for going for the TD, without success, and not taking the sure field goal on the first offensive drive are the ones who berated you for “settling for a tie” when you sent Damian Ramos in on fourth-and-8 for a 31-yard field goal with 1:47 left.

It’s a tough racket, big-time college coaching, especially at a big-time football school like LSU. But, then again, Coach, you get paid big bucks to produce wins. Once again, you’ve got an uphill climb to earn your keep, which at LSU translates to reaching NCAA football’s promised land.

Contact Bob at sports@journalservicesllc.com

By PATRICK MEEHAN, Centenary Sports Information Director

The Centenary football program completed its historic 2024 season last month and the many memorable moments on the field ultimately will pale compared to long-range impact of ongoing facility improvements.

The recently-completed auditorium in the Gold Dome, which seats 119 with a capacity of 140, is the newest addition to an impressive complex that includes the fieldhouse and football practice field adjacent to Atkins Field, home of Gents football.

The 4,700 square foot fieldhouse houses locker rooms for Centenary’s football team along with its women’s soccer and softball teams. The facility, which also includes coaches’ offices, looks out over the 76,500 square foot turf practice field. Atkins Field has a capacity of 2,500 and features a brand-new, state-of-the-art full HD LED video board that is a size of 25 x 15 (375 square feet).

The Gents finished 4-6 overall and 4-4 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play as the sport of football officially returned to campus on the intercollegiate level for the first time in over a half-century.

Centenary’s previous football history began with the Gents’ first game in the fall of 1894 and ended in November of 1941, with a brief attempted revival in the 1960s. The Gents were impressive in their “Independent college season” in 2023, going 9-1 overall in exhibition contests while outscoring their nine opponents, 375-113, and recording three shutouts.

That success led into the 2024 regular season in which the Gents provided their fans many memorable and exciting moments. One of the highlights of the home season came Oct. 26 as the Gents earned a stirring 41-21 comeback victory over the Austin College ‘Roos in league play for Homecoming. Centenary completed a season sweep of the ‘Roos after defeating them 36-17 in Sherman, Texas in September.

Centenary scored 108 points in its five home games, an average of 21.6, and drew nearly 8,000 fans as the excitement and support was evident all season long at Atkins Field.

The Gents, picked for third in the conference in the preseason poll, finished behind co-champions McMurry and Texas Lutheran, who tied for first place with 7-1 conference records. Centenary led the conference in interceptions (15) and finished third in sacks (22). The Gents’ nine fumble recoveries was also second-most in the league. More football recap will follow next week.

VOLLEYBALL: Junior libero Daly Nagot of Benton has been voted to the 2024 Academic All-District® Volleyball team, selected by College Sports Communicators.

The prestigious team recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes volleyball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

Nagot, a business administration major with a 3.58 GPA, becomes the first Ladies’ volleyball player since Jaycie Proctor in 2022 to earn the honor. She played in all 25 of Centenary’s matches this past season and tallied a team-high 253 digs (3.33 digs per set), 31 assists, and eight service aces. She is also a two-time member of the SCAC Student-Athlete Academic Honor Roll.

WOMEN’S SOCCER: Kylie Zeller, a junior defender/midfielder on the women’s soccer team from Denham Springs, was selected the SCAC Character & Community Female Student-Athlete of the Week for the week in the final week of the fall semester this month.

The SCAC Character & Community award honors the efforts of student-athletes who excel in the field of athletics, and also serve their campus and community.

Zeller has played in 50 career matches for the Ladies, starting 45, and has scored four goals and added an assist for nine career points. A video interview is available on the gocentenary.com website.

BASKETBALL BREAK:  The men’s and women’s basketball teams will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 4 with a conference doubleheader against the University of Ozarks Eagles in Clarksville, Ark. as the women tip at 4 p.m. followed by the men at 6 p.m.

Contact Patrick at pmeehan@centenary.edu

When Tyler Jordan shot a huge buck on December 7, 2020, he made a prediction that fortunately didn’t hold true.

“I may never shoot another 190-inch buck. I’m in the woods a lot and I have never seen a buck that size,” Tyler told me when I wrote the story for LA Sportsman about a huge buck he had taken, a buck that scored 190 4/8 inches of mass. Because one of the buck’s hooves was infected by foot rot, leaving a stub in its place, the buck earned the name of “Stomper.”

Jordan was hunting in Catahoula Parish on the 20,000-acre Honey Brake property when he took the buck. Fast forward four years when Jordan, now age 32 encountered a buck that has earned the name of Stomper, Jr. because of similar genetics as Stomper.

The son of Bill Jordan, founder and CEO of Real Tree, the leading licensor of camouflage patterns in the world, Tyler works in the marketing department of the company. He lives in Columbus, Georgia.

“We became interested in Honey Brake in 2018 and would bring business guests down to duck hunt. We had no idea at first that the property was capable of producing quality deer but as we learned what the folks at Honey Brake were doing our interest was piqued,” said Jordan.

Putting out trail cameras this past September, plenty of quality bucks began showing up but it was not until November 1 that Stomper Jr. started showing up on cameras.

“We purchased a ground blind to set up on the food plot where we felt was the best chance to see the deer. One afternoon, two minutes after legal shooting hours had ended, Stomper Jr. showed up at 20 yards. A cameraman and I were in the blind and apparently the buck saw the camera light and he spooked and took off. We didn’t see any more evidence of him for 2 ½ weeks,” Jordan recalled.

A couple of days prior to Thanksgiving, the buck was showing up fairly consistently on a different field half a mile away. It became an issue of looking for favorable weather when deer would more likely to be active.

“On December 2, I checked the weather forecast and it looked like things would be pretty decent and I felt that if deer would move at all, it might be then. We had the north wind we needed and on the morning of December 3, he showed up four minutes before legal shooting time,” he said. Setting up a ground blind in the area where this photo was taken, Jordan got in the blind around 2:30 the afternoon of December 5.

“There was plenty of action as does and smaller bucks were displaying rutting activity and then at 5:10, I looked up and there stood Stomper Jr. I shoot a Franchi .308 and got on him. When I hit the trigger, he dropped on the spot,” Jordan continued.

The rack the 250-pound buck carried was mind boggling. There were 14 points, evenly distributed on each side and the inside spread was 19 5/8 inches. Main beams were 26 ½ inches each with bases measuring 5 2/8 and 5 1/8. The buck was determined to be 6 ½ years old.

The tale of the tape measured a gross score of 203 inches with the net score being 192 3/8 inches.

The current Louisiana state record for typical whitetail bucks is a record that has held since 1939 when Marshall McKay downed a massive buck in Madison Parish that measured 186 6/8 inches. After a drying time of 60 days, it is very likely that Tyler Jordan can lay claim to a new Louisiana state record for typical bucks.

Well Tyler, you won’t ever be able to say what you told me in 2020 that you may never shoot another 190-inch deer. You just did.

Contact Glynn at glynnharris37@gmail.com

December 27 is National Fruitcake Day, a time to appreciate the dense, fruit-filled dessert that has sparked humor and tradition alike. With origins in ancient Rome, fruitcake’s longevity as a holiday staple owes to its ability to be preserved for months, making it a practical and celebratory gift.

Love it or laugh at it, the fruitcake remains a symbol of holiday cheer, blending nostalgia with a taste of the past

The suggestion is to get a jar. And every time something good happens to you during this new year, write that down on a little note and stick it in the jar. Then on Dec. 31, open the jar and be reminded of all the good the new year brought.

I should probably do that. We’re so blessed that we forget from day to day just how good people are to us, how kindly fate smiles on us. Years ago a friend gave me a short book about Gratitude, and it’s gone a long way in reminding me that if we fail to give thanks, we fail to live in any kind of victory, we fail to help our brother, and we fail completely. 

A friend of Jesus after the Christmas baby had grown into a young man, the disciple John, in his later years, wrote to his congregations something about his friend that became a part of the book of 1 John in the King James Bible.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 

That is how it’s been transcribed, with exclamation points and all. 

John was an old man now. He had suffered long, had carried his cross through years of service and exile, and still, the love of God amazed him, grew in him, shone through him. He had seen this love in the flesh; he had also seen up-close what the gift cost.

“Behold,” is the King James Translation. John has written Chapter 2 and suddenly comes this first sentence of Chapter 3 and this flood of exclamation marks. Imagine you are trying to explain to someone that you’ve just met the girl of your dreams, or you’ve come upon a surprising, even shocking run of luck, or that you’ve seen the greatest ending to a ballgame that you could imagine. You are talking and then you pause, overcome…

That’s the “behold” we are trying to imagine, only it goes beyond that. It’s a love from another country, from another “land.” A love from heaven, one that came down to man, first stretched on the straw, then stretched on the cross.

John had witnessed in the flesh this love of God. See John’s hand shaking as he writes it, maybe with tears falling on the parchment. The mystery of such a love, John has had decades to contemplate, yet still, as the angels have done through eternity, he remains moved, even now, by the awesomeness of it, by the sheer power of it, by the grace of it. “What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God…”

The picture of God’s son, John’s friend, continued to amaze and fortify and humble this old servant of God who wrote to his “little children” then and who speaks, maybe even shouts in a mystified whisper, to us today. “Behold…”

It’s the kind of love that has given life to writers and singers and poets through the centuries, the kind it takes exclamation points to even attempt to capture. This one-of-a-kind kind of love that, if we allow it, moves us to do things outside ourselves, maybe even moves us into a new year with a new thought and a new song.

“Amazing love,

How can it be?

That You, my King

Would die for me?…”

Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu