By MATT VINES, Journal Sports
Local districts in Class 3A and Class 4A were largely impacted by Week 6 results.
It’s almost a given North DeSoto is the clear cut best team in District 1-4A, but the definition with which they hold that edge might be a little surprising.
The Griffins (6-0, 3-0) annihilated previously unbeaten Minden in 61-27 fashion, which included a 41-13 halftime score.
Yes Minden’s (5-1, 2-1) one-score wins against Woodlawn, North Webster, and Homer certainly positioned the Tide as the underdog, but the thoroughness of the beating in which North DeSoto racked up 552 yards and limited Minden’s offense despite 27 points scored might have raised eyebrows.
But that result might not have been the craziest in the district.
Booker T. Washington had been positioning itself as a team ready to enter the upper echelon of the district with its impressive win at Benton, building a 28-0 lead, and destruction of smaller-school opponents not named Green Oaks this season.
But the Lions (4-2, 1-1) ran into a Northwood (2-4, 1-1) buzzsaw on Thursday.
The Falcons had three 100-yard rushers and seven rushing touchdowns with Caden Stewart (161), Justin Dupree (126) and quarterback Peyton Boone (100) getting in on the action.
Northwood’s defense relentlessly chased talented BTW quarterback Devion Stewart as the Falcons sacked him eight times.
Factor in Northwood’s 56-13 loss against North DeSoto from Week 5 and the District 1-4A totem pole couldn’t be more clear.
Now the Falcons and Tide will fight for second this week. BTW’s still in good shape for the postseason and can help its cause winning over Minden in Week 10.
Jumping into District 1-3A, Loyola’s offense put up tons of yardage in the trailing position but only briefly challenged in a 66-46 road loss at Sterlington, the two-time defending Non-Select Division III state champion.
Loyola posted three 100-yard receivers for the first time in school history — Charlie McKenzie (10 catches, 132 yards, TD), Ty Walsworth (9-143, three TDs) and Brock Geter (9-158).
Quarterback Bryce Restovich posted 327 of his 481 passing yards by halftime but trailed 45-30. Along with his five scoring throws, he ran for a seven-yard touchdown. The Flyers notched the first score after halftime but Sterlington regained control early in the final period.
The Panthers (4-2) rushed for 480 yards and eight touchdowns overall.
The rest of District 1-3A (Bastrop, North Webster, Carroll) won’t likely challenge these top teams. Carroll won’t be able to play at all after its football season ended because of a postgame fight. That leaves Loyola open, instead of playing a homecoming game, this week.
Plain Dealing rejoices in end of state’s longest losing streak
The Plain Dealing football Facebook page had a simple message late Friday night to accompany smiling photos of Lions players with head coach Jerry Byrd in front of a scoreboard that read “Home 22, Guest 0.”
“Say what you want to say, but whatever you say…just make sure you say it’s over.”
Plain Dealing’s 49-game losing streak was over, a skid that dated back to Oct. 8, 2021, in a 38-6 win against Ringgold.
The quote is an homage to former Byrd head coach Boyd Cole who was at the helm in 1986 when the Yellow Jackets snapped a 31-game skid with a win against Loyola.
Ownership of the state’s longest active losing streak (depending on how one defines it) now transfers into the possession of the loser of that Plain Dealing game – Class 3A Pine Prairie.
Pine Prairie has now lost 23 games. Bolton Academy in Alexandria didn’t field a football team this year, and its future is in doubt, but its losing streak stands at 32 contests.
Captain Shreve’s comeback was crazy
Winning percentages in high school – meaning how likely a team is to win at a given point in the game – don’t exist.
But trailing 34-13 at halftime for a Captain Shreve bunch that had already lost its first two district games, the chance of victory was likely extremely low.
So the Gators just rattled off four straight touchdowns and ended up outscoring Parkway 48-14 in the second half.
Kaleb Law scored the go-ahead touchdown to snatch a 41-34 lead before Parkway answered with a Damian Dacaldacal run to tie at 41-41.
Shreve responded with a Gabe Lockett touchdown run (one of his four, to go with 212 rushing yards) before Parkway regained the late lead at 48-47 on a McCoy 7-yard pass to Tristan Sedberry with 3:29 to go.
Law answered back with a 20-yard touchdown catch 89 seconds later. Parkway didn’t falter, but the Gators put the icing on the cake with a Christian Draper 98-yard interception return TD on the game’s last play, from the Shreve 6, to thwart the Panthers at the goal line.
The Gators (3-3, 1-2) snapped a two-game district slide while the Panthers (3-3, 1-2) have now lost two in a row. McCoy threw for 370 yards and four scores.
Evangel’s Houston accounts for eight touchdowns
Evangel quarterback Peyton “Pop” Houston accounted for eight touchdowns in the Eagles’ 63-28 win against Natchitoches Central, crossing the 100-touchdown passing mark for his career in the process.
Houston threw four touchdowns, which gives him 101 in his decorated Evangel tenure, and ran for four more – including another in his YouTube collection of mind-bending and ankle-breaking long TDs, this one 75 yards — to make sure the injury-battered Chiefs (0-6) remained winless on the season.
Evangel (4-2, 3-0) has beaten its three district opponents by a combined 137-41 and will mercifully take a break from 1-5A to host Cornerstone Christian (5-2) out of Texas.
Huntington, Southwood also log first wins
Both Huntington (1-5, 1-2) and Southwood (1-5, 1-2) won battles of winless teams to move themselves off the snide in Week 6.
The Raiders outslugged Byrd (0-6) 33-28 Thursday while the Cowboys edged the Knights in 28-22 fashion Friday.
The Yellow Jackets sliced the Raiders lead to 33-28 with 44 seconds remaining, but the Raiders recovered an onside kick to seal the win in a contest that featured four lead changes.
Both Southwood’s and Woodlawn’s defenses scored touchdowns before the Cowboys came out on top.
Contact Matt at matt.vines@lsus.edu