Guin says his Haughton Bucs have ‘played pretty well’ in two blowout wins

Jerry Byrd

Haughton football coach Rodney Guin says his Bucs have “played pretty well” in the first two weeks of the 2013 season.

The Bucs opened the season with a 49-8 rout of Woodlawn (Shreveport) and then defeated Benton’s Tigers 52-14.

But as he looks at the remainder of the schedule, starting with tonight’s trip to Minden, Guin doesn’t expect the team to keep its average of 50 points per game.

“The offense has played well,” he says. But the Bucs will have to replace wide receiver Jarrett Lars, who has been sidelined by a broken leg.

The Haughton defense has been led by tackle Mason Moreau, a 5-11, 230-pound junior, and a secondary consisting of seniors Jerrod Craft and Micah Larkins, junior Oshun Smith and sophomore T. J. Sweeney.

Quarterback Will Haines, a 5-11, 180-pound junior, and 6-1, 215-pound running back Jarred Craft lead the offensive unit.

“The secondary is as good as we’ve had in my 14 years,” says Guin. “They’re playing well, but they have a way to go.”

The Bucs face a stiff test at Minden (1-1) tonight.

Haughton isn’t the highest-scoring team in Bossier Parish in the first two weeks of the 2013 season. Parkway’s Panthers have scored 117 points in blowout victories over Calvary Baptist (55-13) and Marshall, Texas (62-19). The Panthers play Texarkana, Ark., this week.

“Everybody looked good the first two weeks,” says Parkway coach David Feaster. “But the Texarkana game will be a challenge because we’ll be playing on the road.”

Feaster says all of the Panthers have looked good in the first two games. “We’ve had a couple of complete ball games — offense, defense and special teams,” he said. “They’re all doing a good job.”

But this week’s opponent poses a major challenge. “We have a lot of respect for them,” Feaster said. “We’ve had the home field advantage in our first two games, but this will be a good challenge because we’ll be playing on the road.”

Before all championship games were moved to the Louisiana Superdome in 1981, title games were played at the home fields of one of theteams.

When Haughton’s Bucs won the Class 3A state championship in 1977, they defeated Vandebilt Catholic 21-7 in the title game at Houma.

End David Grappe was selected Outstanding Defensive Player on on the 1977 Class 3A All-State team. The Bucs’ only other first-team selections were linebacker Bobby Strogen, defensive back Everett Williams and offensive guard David Pope.

Williams and Strogen were repeat All-Staters the following year, when the Bucs reached the finals again before falling to Lutcher, 12-7.

Those Haughton teams were coached by Will Marston.

The first Bossier Parish team to win a state football championship was the 1942 Bossier High team, coached by Ben Cameron. His team wrapped up a 12-0 season with a 27-0 victory over DeQuincy in the championship game, which was played at DeQuincy. The Bearkats won their next state title in 1948, when a team coached by Loy Camp beat Reserve 21-0 in the championship game. Fullback Searle Walton, halfback Gene Yarbrough and end Tommy Woodall were All-Staters on that 1948 team.

Jerry Byrd is the former sports editor of the Bossier Press-Tribune and an award-winning columnist. You can contact him by E-mail at jbsportswriter@comcast.net