Being the only week that the District 1-A teams would get to play outside of their own district, the teams came up with some interesting matchups to start the season. Haynesville originally was to go just up the road to D’Arbonne Woods had found a new opponent against the West Sabine High School in Pineland, TX. A couple of first-time coaches made their appearance with some mixed results. Here is the recap of the first week in District 1-A play.
Haynesville Golden Tornados 35, West Sabine Tigers 29
The Tors had to travel three hours southwest to Pineland, TX to find an opponent to cover for their COVID-19 stricken game against D’Arbonne Woods. The Tigers gave them a run for their money also. Kedrick Grider pounded 188 yards and three touchdowns to give the Tors their first win.
West Sabine started early with an 85-yard kickoff return from Julius Mason gave the Tigers the early lead. Grider kicked into stride with touchdown runs of 13 and 12-yard runs to send the Tors into halftime with a 14-7 lead. Grider continued to give the Tors momentum and a comfortable two-touchdown lead after a 3-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter. The Tigers roared back later in the third quarter as quarterback Quentin Smith got hot. Smith connected with Hunter Murphy on a 17-yard pass to close the gap. Smith rolled into the fourth quarter with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Karson Lane to give West Sabine the 22-21 lead with a little under 9-minutes remaining. Haynesville drove the ball down to the 3-yard line and reclaimed the lead with a touchdown by Jontavion Brown. Smith struck again late in the fourth with a 46-yard bomb to Lane to tie the game at 29. Tor quarterback Kyle Woodward only attempted two passes all night, but he made his one completion golden as a sunk the Tigers with a touchdown to Keegan Goodwin with 1:22 remaining for the Golden Tornado win.
Plain Dealing Lions 38, Tensas Panthers 0
First-year head coach, Christopher Wilson started his head coaching career 1-0 as the Lions pounced on Tensas in Plain Dealing on Friday night. Quarterback Braeden Sterling had a hand in four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing) for the Lions in the win. Ladavious Scott was the top rusher for the Lions with 57 yards. Darrien Perry was Sterling’s main target for two touchdowns and 40 yards.
Sterling gave the Panther grief early in the first quarter with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Darrien Perry. Sterling then took matters into his own hands as he burst into the end zone for 10 yards. Perry got open again for a 17-yard touchdown pass before the half to give Plain Dealing a commanding 22-0 lead heading into halftime. The Lions didn’t let off the gas in the third quarter as Sterling and Kelonje Perry rushed for touchdowns to close out the win for the Lions.
Byrd Yellow Jackets 35, Calvary Cavaliers 27
Two contrasting styles of offense collided last Thursday night at Lee Hedges Stadium in Shreveport. Byrd’s grinding run game that ate double the offensive time that Calvary controlled the ball. Calvary went on the air attack with quarterback Landy Lyddy who complete
14 of 27 with 296 yards and 4 touchdowns. Lyddy completed two touchdown passes each to Joseph Wilson and Jordan Wallace. Both receivers caught for 142 yards each. Calvary’s defense was led by Cade Bedgood and Dalton Lang who had 9 tackles for the evening.
Byrd got the early attack in the first quarter with two touchdowns by Venzell Thompson who punched in from 2 and 5 yards. Lyddy struck back in the second with a 46-yard long ball touchdown to Wilson. Calvary didn’t get to celebrate their first score long as Byrd’s Mitchell Ramsey blasted down the field for a 94-yard kickoff return. Byrd took a 21-7 lead into halftime. Calvary stormed back in the third with Lyddy finding Wilson again and hitting Wallace in the end zone to tie the game at 21. Byrd burnt up the clock to a little under two minutes to reach the 6-yard line. Lake Lambert crashed into the end zone to give the Yellow Jackets the lead again. Wallace picked up his second touchdown pass early in the fourth. The extra point was blocked and Byrd maintained a 28-27 lead. Byrd added another touchdown by Ramsey with a little under five minutes remaining to hold on for the win.
Menard Eagles 19, Homer Pelicans 7
The Pels had to travel a couple of hours south to Alexandria for their first game of the season to face the Menard Eagles. Jamarquese Hampton scored the lone touchdown on a fumble recovery for Homer on Friday night. Tamarean Grant frustrated the Eagles getting in the backfield on three tackles for losses in his nine tackles. Walteze Ford also caused the Eagle quarterback some headaches laying him out for two sacks and stopping the offense for 7 tackles. On the offense, Demije Patterson carried 9 times for 89 yards. Xavier Webb added 91 yards total offense for the Pelicans. Terrenzo Winzer caught for 45 yards.
LaSalle Tigers 38, Ringgold Redskins 0
First-year coach Shon Trent had to face the rushing attack of the LaSalle Tigers. LaSalle rushed for 233 yards for the night behind a two-touchdown and 74-yard rushing night by Brady Hough.
Ringgold’s Rylan Parks led the defense with 5.5 tackles for the night. Offensively, Keesean Johnson caught for 41 yards and average 13.7 per reception. Tyrin Cunningham was the top rusher with 24 yards for the Redskins. Monroe McCarty passed for 57 yards.
Loyola Flyers 45, Magnolia Charter Mariners 0
Cedar Creek Cougars 47, Arcadia Hornets 6
Madison Jaguars 42, Lincoln Prep Panthers 7
District play begins next week with the two teams that started out 1-0 as Haynesville Tors will travel to Plain Dealing to face the Lions. Here is the District 1-A schedule for the upcoming week:
Haynesville Golden Tornadoes @ Plain Dealing Lions
Homer Pelicans @ Arcadia Hornets
Lincoln Prep Panthers @ Calvary Cavaliers
Ringgold Redskins @ Magnolia Charter Mariners (Thursday)
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