By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
Byrd’s visit to Airline Friday night didn’t promise to be a District 1-5A nailbiter, and it wasn’t.
The Yellow Jackets (2-7, 1-6) – state quarterfinalists last season — won their first district game just a week ago. They’ve been stuck on the struggle bus all year, more so as injuries have sidelined mainstays in nearly every position group.
The Vikings (6-3, 4-3), whose three losses are by a combined 17 points, two to the 1-5A co-leaders Evangel (51-49) and Parkway (48-43), were big favorites.
Friday’s final: Airline 48, Byrd 17. It was 7-0 after Airline’s first possession, 11 plays worth, 80 yards – not the usual Vikings’ quick strikes, but it set a tone.
Byrd trailed 20-0 until the last two seconds of the first half, when Asher Murray blasted his fourth career 50-yard field goal. It was good from 54 with room to spare – the Texas A&M commit is that good.
The fourth quarter started 27-3, Vikings. Then a standard 1-5A eruption occurred – 35 combined points in just over eight minutes, with three touchdowns coming from the primetime players – Byrd’s running back Christian Maxie (runs of 44 and 53 yards, giving him eight TDs in the past two games) and Airline’s Kenny Darby, who housed another kickoff return, his third of the season, a 99-yarder.
Four of the TDs came rapid-fire. Maxie busted loose for his 44-yarder, and Airline replied in 26 seconds, needing just two plays, first a 77-yard shuttle pass and run by Terrance Hays, followed immediately by a 3-yard Matt Moore score. Maxie’s 53-yarder came with 2:28 left, and Murray’s kickoff was one yard shy of his standard touchback. Unfortunately for the Jackets, Darby had successfully argued with his coach, Justin Scogin, to get on the return team with the game out of hand, and he made his last play memorable, housing it.
But Darby’s No. 1 jersey was really an exclamation point on Halloween night. He scored Airline’s first TD (a 3-yard run) and its last. He had 118 yards on five receptions, including a 74-yarder. In between, the understudies were the stars.
“It was really the team. It wasn’t me,” said the LSU commit. “We had young guys stepping up.”
So did Byrd.
“We’ve had quite a few injuries and have young kids out on the field, taking their lumps right now. They’re playing hard,” said Jackets’ coach Stacy Ballew. “We’ve gotten better executing, but we’re not executing fast.”
The sophomore class, ordinarily not learning by doing at a good 5A football program, had been pressed into action for quite a while in some cases by Week 9. Leo Ezernack stepped in at quarterback. Elijah Stevens had taken a starting spot at wingback, beside Dominic Foy and Trenton Henderson trying to fill the shoes of Collin Deere at fullback. On the other side of the ball, Keonta Eason and Jamaurie Roberts were playing safety, and Kam Mosley was handling a cornerback spot.
Same story, different sideline in the Next Man Up Bowl.
“We’ve lost a bunch,” said Scogin. “It seemed like on both sides of the ball, guys were dropping like flies, but I was really proud of our group for how they’ve responded.
“Terrance Hays had a really, really good night tonight. We’ve added (cornerback) Zeus Arthur to help us offensively (at fullback). Matt Moore scored a touchdown. We moved Chris Hart to a different position and he scored a touchdown. It was a group effort, and a really good night across the board,” he said.
Hays, a reserve junior receiver, ran for 95 yards on four touches.
“I’ve been grinding, learning, and this year I’ve had the mindset of keeping my head down and wait. Every time I get the ball, I’ve got to make it worth it,” he said.
“I try to stay positive about it, and this is what happens when you stay positive. When you get your chance, and you can make the best of it.”
Hart, a sophomore, made a big splash immediately, returning the season-opening kickoff for a touchdown at Benton.
“It gave me a lot of confidence,” he said. “It made me think I was ready to be on the same playing field with these guys.”
But until recently, he didn’t get in often on offense, until senior running back D.J. Allen banged up a shoulder. Hart was, frankly, surprised he got as much time in the backfield as he did Friday. He surprised Byrd with a second-quarter 36-yard TD run.
“I just wanted to fulfill the opportunity and not disappoint. It feels great that I was able to do what I was doing,” said Hart. “God’s got me.
“I’m more motivated now. I don’t want to make mistakes. I just want to do what I can do.”
Senior center J.D. Yates pointed out more Vikings stepping up including big guys Ethan Gay, a sophomore, and Mamoun Salameh, a junior. Add in Hart, Hays, Arthur, and the other ensemble members, and they’re difference makers, Yates said, because given the chance, they’re answering the bell as Airline takes aim at a playoff run.
“The biggest thing it takes to win a state championship is heart, hard work and dedication. You can run all these trick plays, have this fancy playbook, all these four-star, three-star commits – the team with the bigger heart, more dedication to hard work, they’re going to win, 100 percent.
“This is a huge win,” he said, from a confidence perspective. “We’re ready now.”
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com