JOURNAL STAFF
Now that an eventful 2024 in local sports is in the history books, here’s a look at the Shreveport-Bossier Journal’s top 10 sports stories from the past year.
1) Indy bowl becomes focal point for transfer portal – When the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl announced its pairing of Army and Marshall on Dec. 8, matching two conference champions with double-digit win totals sounded great. But five days later, Marshall bailed, citing the loss of 36 players (17 on their depth chart, including all three quarterbacks) in the portal after head coach Charles Huff bolted to Southern Mississippi. The news of Marshall’s retreat broke on the morning of the Army-Navy game, and a few hours later the bowl announced 5-7 Louisiana Tech as its replacement because no 6-win bowl eligible teams remained. National media rightfully roasted Marshall; so did the commissioner of the Herd’s Sun Belt Conference. The 12-2 Black Knights, rushing for 321 yards, marched past the Bulldogs 27-6 in the Dec. 28 game, which had its best announced attendance (34,283) in 10 years.
2) Centenary football returns – For the first time since World War II, Centenary played a complete football season that registered in the record books. Following a 9-1 exhibition campaign in 2023 against mostly junior varsity teams, more than two dozen local products helped the Gents go 4-6, playing their Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference foes twice – sweeping Austin College, including the landmark first win in decades, 36-17 on the road Sept. 21. A new fieldhouse and other facility improvements along with higher visibility benefited other Centenary sports, which enjoyed earlier 2024 NCAA Division III postseason appearances in men’s basketball and baseball.
3) Weekly offensive onslaught in prep football – Shreveport-Bossier teams produced four of the state’s top five passing leaders, six of the top eight receivers, and scoring averages were sky high. Airline’s Ben Taylor finished second on the state’s career pass yardage list (12,374) and this fall topped his state-best single-season total from 2023, but finished second on the 2024 list to Evangel sophomore Peyton “Pop” Houston (4,480 yards), who had the biggest single-game total (817 yards) in national history in a 77-76 overtime loss at Captain Shreve Oct. 10. That came a week after the Gators’ 69-68 loss to unbeaten Airline, which averaged 52 points while reaching the state quarterfinals before losing.
4) No future for Fair Grounds Field – Legal challenges and appeals to local officials could not save the dilapidated former home of Shreveport’s minor league baseball teams, Fair Grounds Field. After second-year Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux announced Feb. 5 that a Texas Rangers-owned management group and a city-hired consultant agreed redeveloping the stadium and the state Fair Grounds wasn’t economically feasible, the Friends of Fair Grounds Field pushed to salvage the facility for months but failed.
5) Seth Lego becomes Cy Young contender – In his ninth MLB season, Seth Lugo undeniably became a star. A good-not great player at Parkway High and Centenary, Lugo had been a journeyman pitcher with the New York Mets and in a year in San Diego. Following a very solid 2023 with the Padres, he signed a three-year, $45 million deal to play in Kansas City – and blossomed. He made the All-Star Game while leading the American League in wins (11) and ERA (2.21), and finished 16-9 with a 3.00 ERA, collecting enough votes to finish second in the AL Cy Young voting.
6) Sam Burns’ successful season – The 28-year-old Shreveport native and Calvary Baptist product banked $6.1 million in official PGA Tour money, notching eight top 10s and 12 top 25 finishes in 21 events. He had three top 10s in four early weeks, then finished with two top fives in the three season-ending FedEx Cup events, capped by a $1 million, 12th-place at the Tour Championship. A month later, he helped the USA defend its Presidents Cup championship in his third straight year of international team competition. On April 22, Burns welcomed his first child, son Bear, with his high school sweetheart, Caroline.
7) Parkway girls basketball repeats after miracle shot – Could the Lady Panthers win two straight state championships, despite the graduation of superstar Mikaylah Williams? Coach Gloria Williams’ 30-6 team didn’t steamroll opponents as often as last year, but they blasted Denham Springs 57-29 in the finals of Marsh Madness – two nights after two-time All-Stater Chloe Larry swished a 54-foot buzzer beater to give the Lady Panthers a 64-63 upset of top-seeded Walker. Parkway overcame a 16-point second-half deficit.
8) Calvary softball’s quadpeat – Winning a state title is a great accomplishment. Lady Cavaliers seniors Ramsey Walker, DJ Lynch and Baylee Blackburn collected their fourth in a row April 29. Coach Tiffany Wood’s powerhouse (36-2) followed Walker, the All-State Outstanding Player, through a dominant season, and came back from a 6-1 deficit in the state finals to beat Houma Christian 10-9.
9) Local owners collect with Kentucky Derby win – Captain Shreve graduates Brent and Sharilyn Smith Gasaway cashed in when Mystik Dan, from their 4 G Racing LLC ownership group, won the 150th Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May. Now Arkansas residents, the couple saw their first-ever Derby entry, an 18-1 shot, win in a photo finish to claim the $3.1 million winner’s purse, 80 percent going to the owners.
10) Mikaylah Williams’ homecoming – Parkway’s former two-time state Miss Basketball and her LSU basketball teammates put on a show on a rainy Sunday afternoon, Dec. 8, drawing 8,299 adoring fans to Brookshire Grocery Arena to watch a rout of Grambling. Williams, last season’s SEC Freshman of the Year, played 3.9 miles from her alma mater, and was gracefully accommodating as she was swarmed for autographs and selfies after scoring 16 and dishing five assists in a 100-54 romp.