Malachi Zeigler threw five touchdown passes in the Benton Tigers’ 49-40 District 1-5A loss to the Byrd Yellow Jackets Friday night at Lee Hedges Stadium.
Benton dropped to 2-6 overall and 1-5 in district. Byrd improved to 2-6 and 1-5.
The Tigers trailed just 28-27 after three quarters. The Jackets scored two touchdowns to go up 42-27.
Benton cut the lead to eight on a 16-yard pass from Zeigler and Will Petro’s PAT.
But Byrd answered with a TD. Benton scored a late touchdown for the final margin.
Byrd’s Christian Maxie scored six rushing touchdowns and also threw a touchdown pass.
According to stats kept for Byrd’s 1130-AM broadcast, Maxie rushed for 341 yards.
Zeigler completed 28-of-38 passes for 489 yards.
His touchdown passes covered 80 and 49 yards to Case Austin, 26 and 6 to Owen Patterson and 16 yards to Kam Smith. He also ran 19 yards for a TD.
Austin had six catches for 161 yards, Rydon McCormack five for 109, Patterson five for 84 and Smith six for 60.
Maxie’s TD runs covered 39, 1, 42, 2 and 58 and 45 yards.
Benton hosts Parkway Thursday. The Panthers (8-0, 6-0) defeated Captain Shreve 45-42 Friday night.
Evangel Christian 64, Haughton 27: At Haughton, the Bucs hung with the Eagles for awhile, but Evangel pulled away in the third quarter after the Bucs got within two.
Haughton dropped to 1-7 overall and 1-6 in district. Evangel improved to 7-1 with its seventh straight victory and 7-0.
Evangel quarterback Peyton Houston threw seven touchdown passes.
Evangel scored on its opening drive. The Bucs scored on their first offensive play, an 80-yard pass from Taylor Weathersby to Carter Couvillion.
After the Eagles went up 14-6 with Houston throwing a TD pass on fourth-and-8, the Bucs scored on 5-yard pass from Weathersby to Ethan Johnson.
Haughton recovered an onside kick but couldn’t capitalize. But the Bucs recovered a Houston fumble at the 3 and Brandon Craig scored from the one.
Connor Bencke’s PAT gave Haughton a 20-14 lead.
It didn’t last long. The Eagles got a rushing touchdown then Houston threw a TD pass just before halftime and the Eagles led 29-20.
The Bucs scored on their first possession of the second half on a 5-yard run by Craig.
After that it was all Evangel. The Eagles closed the quarter with three touchdowns with the last one coming on a 92-yard pass.
Haughton did reach the Evangel 2 on a drive but couldn’t get in the end zone.
Weathersby had another big night. He completed 18-of-32 passes for 386 yards with two interceptions.
Craig had seven catches for 181 yards. His 39 rushing yards gave him another game of 200-plus yards total offense.
DeCarlos Johns had two catches for 55 yards and Johnson had five for 52.
Haughton plays Captain Shreve (4-4, 4-2) Thursday at Lee Hedges Stadium. The Gators fell to Parkway 45-42 Friday night.
Minden 49, Bossier 13: At Minden, the Bearkats led 13-7 early in the second quarter but the the Tide scored 42 unanswered points in the District 1-4A game.
Bossier dropped to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in district. Minden improved to 4-4 and 3-2.
Bossier quarterback Montrevell Lewis scored on runs of 3 and 24 yards. His second TD gave the Bearkats the 13-7 lead with 11 minutes left in the half.
But Minden scored two before the half to go up 21-13. The Tide then pulled away with three more touchdowns in the third quarter.
Minden had 437 total yards with 326 of that on the ground, per stats kept for the KBEF-FM broadcast.
Lewis completed 11-of-19 passes for 145 yards with one interception. He also rushed for 66 yards on 23 carries.
Jamez Cobb caught four passes for 66 yards. Jojo Rachal had four receptions for 61.
Bossier is still on track to make the playoffs. The Bearkats are No. 21 in the non-select Division III power rankings. The top 28 in the final rankings make the playoffs.
Bossier hosts Woodlawn Thursday. The Knights (2-6, 0-5) lost to North DeSoto 62-12 Friday night.
Bossier closes the regular season Nov. 6 at undefeated and No. 1-ranked North DeSoto.