JOURNAL SPORTS
Plain Dealing’s milestone 22-0 win over Pine Prairie Friday night continues to resonate around the state, and Wednesday evening the Lions were saluted remotely by Gov. Jeff Landry and LSU coach Lane Kiffin.
The victory halted a 49-game losing streak that was the state’s longest, an achievement that has earned media focus locally and statewide. It was the Lions’ first win in five seasons.
School administrators, Lions’ second-year coach Jerry Byrd Jr. and three of his players — Ja’Marion Baker-Shepard, Jerry Harris and Antonio Taylor — were guests of honor when Gov. Landry’s office coordinated a presentation at Plain Dealing’s town hall. Along with receiving praise from the governor’s representative on hand, they were presented with an autographed football helmet from LSU coach Lane Kiffin and his staff.
That wasn’t the only surprise, though.
Baker-Shepard, who scored the Lions’ last touchdown Friday after making a touchdown-saving play early in the game, was one of 44 seniors who made the Preseason Scholar-Athlete Watch List for north Louisiana compiled by the McNaughton Chapter of the National Football Foundation.
In the aftermath of Friday’s historic victory, he was chosen as the subject for the weekly KTBS spotlight of players on the McNaughton Chapter’s list. That package by local sportscaster Alex Anderson caught the attention of Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College Chancellor Dr. Jayda Spillers because the Plain Dealing standout revealed his post-graduate intentions to attend trade school to become a welder.
That recognition inspired Dr. Spillers, who joined Wednesday’s event and presented Baker-Shepard with a welding helmet and a $1,000 scholarship to open a door for his future.