By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
If Parkway head coach Coy Brotherton had his way, junior running back Damien Decaldecal would only be a chance-of-pace option. After all, 5-foot-5 running backs don’t exactly fit the description of being a “workhorse.”
But at this point in the season – especially with 11 regulars out with injuries, including fellow running back Braxxton Black – Brotherton doesn’t have much of an option.
In the first five games of the season, Decaldecal had a total of 40 carries. That might as well be ancient history.
For the second straight week, Decaldecal was basically the entire Panther rushing attack as he had 23 of the team’s 26 carries.
Meanwhile, he also played defensive back and had a key special teams play in the Panthers’ 46-27 win over Benton Friday night in a District 1-5A game at Preston Crownover Stadium.
“He’s a warrior,” Brotherton said. “He probably came out for six total plays tonight. He loves football, he loves playing and I’m glad he’s on our team.”
Decaldecal rushed for 174 yards, made three tackles and also contributed a key kickoff return that was part of a series of plays that illustrated his night. First, he returned the kickoff 85 yards – and ran about 150 yards to do it – then quickly caught his breath before carrying the ball on the next play.
And the next play. And the next play. And the next play.
The final one was for his second 2-yard touchdown of the night – he’d have three scores more before it was all over – to give the Panthers a 14-7 lead with 5:51 to go before half.
He wouldn’t get another carry in the first half because Benton was doing a great job of playing keep away. The Panthers only had two possessions and ran just 12 offensive plays.
“They (the Tigers) did a good job of running the football and keeping us off the field,” Brotherton said.
Benton ran an amazing 48 plays in the first half, but it was the 48th that turned things around. The Tigers were at the Parkway 5 with a chance to tie the game, but Kaden Pugh came up with an end zone interception to end the half.
Parkway got the ball to start the second half and the pace of the game changed dramatically. After only two possessions in the first half, the Panthers had eight in the final two quarters – and scored on six of them (five touchdowns and a field goal).
The change of pace made it tough for the Tigers to keep up.
“We got behind two or three scores there and then the goal becomes to try to claw back in,” Benton coach Stephen Dennis said. “The effort was good, but we need to work on the execution. We gave up a long kickoff return and an onside kick on special teams and some turnovers on offense. You can’t do that against a team like Parkway.”
The Tigers stayed around enough to keep things interesting. In the last two minutes, the Panthers just needed a yard on fourth down to ice it.
It was quite fitting that they gave the ball to Decaldecal. It was even more fitting that he gave them 60 yards instead to close out the scoring.
Parkway (4-3, 3-1 in district) will hit the road Friday to travel to Gonzales to take on East Ascension. Benton (3-4, 1-3) will meet Natchitoches Central for the first of three home games to close the season.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com