Sometimes after a defeat all you can do is tip your cap to your opponent and move on.
That was the case Friday night at Harold E. Harlan Stadium as the Haughton Bucs fell to the Byrd Yellow Jackets 38-7 in a District 1-5A opener.
“Sometimes you line up and you get outplayed and get beat by a team that’s just a little bit better than you on that night and that’s kind of what tonight was,” Haughton Head Coach Jason Brotherton said. “We obviously made some mistakes and didn’t play great but they’re probably a big part of that, what they do and what they were able to do. Not much fun, for sure.”
Defending district champion Byrd improved to 4-0. The Yellow Jackets extended their regular-season winning streak to 13.
Haughton dropped to 2-2. The Bucs’ 19-game home winning streak came to an end.
Haughton got into an early hole. Byrd scored on a 38-yard run by Mitchell Ramsey. The Jackets then intercepted a pass off a deflection and capitalized with their second TD of the game.
After the Bucs failed to convert on fourth down, Byrd drove to its third touchdown of the first quarter, a 1-yard run by quarterback Logan Pons.
The Jackets extended the lead to 28-0 in the second quarter. Haughton then scored its lone touchdown on a 56-yard pass from Colin Rains to Joshua Sewell.
Per Haughton stats, Byrd’s veer option rolled up 337 yards, including 276 rushing.
“I don’t know if we ever stopped them,” Brotherton said. “We slowed them down. They didn’t get a bunch of big plays. The defense couldn’t get off the field. We knew we needed some turnovers going in and we got one turnover and it was late in the game. The game was pretty much already decided.
“Just a lot of things we knew had to happen for us to have a chance to win and none of those things really happened for us, especially early in the game. They jumped on us pretty early and played well and didn’t give us a chance.”
Haughton hosts parish rival Benton on Friday. The Tigers (3-1) lost to Parkway 30-23 Friday night.
Natchitoches Central 28, Airline 7: The Chiefs pulled away in the second half in a District 1-5A opener at M.D. Ray Field at Airline Stadium.
The first half was a defensive struggle and ended in a 7-7 deadlock. Natchitoches Central then took control in the second half.
The Vikings have faced some of the area’s best running backs. Add Natchitoches Central’s Caylin Demars to the list. He sandwiched a 69-yard touchdown run around a pair of 5-yard scores.
Demars’ second 5-yard TD run gave the Chiefs a 21-7 lead. He finished with 167 yards on 22 carries.
Airline had a chance to get on the board early but was stopped at the Chiefs 22 on its first drive. After Natchitoches Central took a 7-0 lead, the Vikings answered with their lone touchdown drive.
Airline’s offense continued to have a difficult time getting into the end zone. In three of their four losses, the Vikings have scored only one touchdown.
Airline is off to an 0-4 start for the first time in Bo Meeks’ 11 seasons as head coach. Natchitoches Central improved to 4-0 for the first time in at least a quarter century.
Airline is scheduled to play Southwood on Thursday night at Independence Stadium. The Cowboys (0-4) had to forfeit their district opener against Captain Shreve.
North Caddo 42, Bossier 6: For the first time this season, the Bossier Bearkats couldn’t get their spread offense going in the non-district loss to the Titans at Memorial Stadium.
Bossier dropped to 2-2. North Caddo improved to 3-1.
Like every other team North Caddo plays, Bossier had trouble defending junior receiver Omarion Miller, an LSU commit. Miller caught touchdown passes of 30 and 74 yards. On the latter, he went up between two Bearkats to make the catch before sprinting to the end zone.
Bossier faced an early 22-0 deficit. Jaylyn Williams’ 5-yard touchdown run in the second quarter cut the lead to 22-6. But the Bearkats could get no closer.
The Titans’ KJ Black scored three touchdowns, including a 78-yard run. The North Caddo defense put a lot of pressure on Bossier quarterback Carlos Butler, sacking him five times.
Bossier continues non-district play Friday at home against Class 1A Montgomery. The Tigers 1-3) fell to River Oaks 48-42 Friday night.
Haynesville 41, Plain Dealing 0: The final score was no indication of how the Lions hung tough against the perennial power Golden Tornado at Red Franklin Memorial Stadium.
Haynesville scored a pair of late touchdowns to make the game seem more lopsided than it really was.
“That’s the hardest I’ve seen my kids play since I’ve been here and that makes me proud,” Plain Dealing second-year Head Coach Christopher Wilson said in a Facebook post.
Haynesville improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in district. Plain Dealing dropped to 1-3 and 1-2.
The Lions host North Caddo in their final non-district game Friday night.
