The Airline Vikings opened District 1-5A play with a 32-29 victory over the Natchitoches Central Chiefs Friday night at Turpin Stadium in Natchitoches.
Airline improved to 4-1 overall. Natchitoches Central dropped to 0-5 and 0-1.
Airline led 32-14 in the fourth quarter. But Natchitoches Central rallied and cut the lead to 32-21 with less than five minutes to play.
The Chiefs scored a touchdown and two-point conversion with 14 seconds left. But the Vikings recovered an onside kick.
“Luckily, we’ve been really good in that department this year,” Airline Head Coach Justin Scogin said Saturday.
Airline trailed 14-13 midway through the third quarter. The Vikings then scored three straight touchdowns to take the 32-14 lead.
Scogin said the game reflected how his team has performed all season.
“Kind of the story of the year, inconsistent,” he said. “That’s who we are right now. Either the defense plays really well and the offense doesn’t play well or the offense plays well for spurts and the defense doesn’t play well or the offense just doesn’t play well at times.
“We have a hard time putting people away and making plays in big moments. But I mean think, overall, the defense was was really good last night.”
Chase Williams scored two rushing touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass to Sir’Charles Marshall. Chris Hart and Nathan White also scored rushing touchdowns.
Scogin said Natchitoches Central is much better than their record indicates.
“Natchitoches Central was a really good team,” he said. “They’re kind of like us. They just have to put it together for one whole game. The have some athletes and they have some great coaches.”
Scogin believes the Vikings have what it takes to compete for the district title in the second half of the season then make a deep playoff run.
“We have the talent,” he said. “We have the ability to finish this thing out with no problem.
“It’s just, can we understand that you have to be good on every play, you have to go full speed on every play?
“You have to know what’s going on in every play. We have to complement each other. We can’t have one game where defense plays good, the offense plays bad, and vice versa. Our special teams have to get a little bit better, but the opportunity for us to be really good and finish out the year and and make a, make a deep playoff run is there. It’s just, can we can we write the ship in the next couple weeks?”
Airline hosts Benton Friday. The Tigers (3-2, 1-1) defeated Byrd 31-28 Friday night.