The No. 24 seed Haughton Buccaneers couldn’t overcome a big first-half deficit in a 48-27 loss to the No. 9 John Ehret Patriots in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs Friday night in New Orleans.
Haughton closed its season 5-6 under first-year coach Jason Brotherton. Ehret (9-2) visits No. 8 Hahnville in the second round.
Haughton trailed 28-6 at the half and 34-6 early in the third quarter. But the Bucs didn’t go quietly, scoring two third-quarter touchdowns before the Patriots pulled away.
Haughton’s first TD came with 51 seconds left in the half on a 47-yard pass from junior Cameron Townsend to senior Josh Lister.
Lavonta Gipson, who missed about two-thirds of the season with an injury, scored on a 23-yard run midway through the third quarter. Townsend then hit Emile Cola for 36 yards and a touchdown.
Townsend completed 11 of 21 passes for 155 yards. Lister caught six passes with most of his 57 yards coming on the TD catch. Cola had three catches for 51 yards. Kynan Hayes had two for 25.
Gipson had 58 yards on 21 carries. He also scored the Bucs’ final touchdown on a fumble return late in the game.
According to Haughton stats, the Patriots had 399 total yards with 248 coming in the air.
T’Marquise Winfield led the Bucs with seven solo tackles and three assists. Duncan Smith, a four-year starter, had five solos and two assists. Harrison Voigt, one of several seniors who played their final game, had five solos and one assist. Garrett Pantin, Darren Hicks and Greg Phill all had three solo tackles.
— Russell Hedges, rhedges@bossierpress.com
