Haughton coach Jason Brotherton is never happy with a loss. But considering how Evangel Christian has dominated District 1-5A, he couldn’t help but be pleased with some aspects of his team’s 31-3 loss Friday night at Evangel.
“It’s hard to say you’re satisfied when you get beat 31-3 but we competed against them,” he said. “The defense played great. It was a four-quarter game which we were excited about. I’m just really proud of our kids and their effort. We really competed way better than we did last year.”
Haughton finished the first half of the regular season 3-2 overall and 1-1 in 1-5A. Evangel (3-1, 2-0) opened district play with a 52-0 victory over Parkway. The Eagles’ closest district game in 2016 was a 45-8 win over the Panthers.
After the first quarter Friday, Evangel led just 7-3 with Korbin Schmidt kicking a 31-yard field goal. The Eagles took control in the second with 17 points.
Brotherton said the Eagles defense didn’t allow the Bucs to get much going. Two of Evangel’s first-half touchdowns came on interception returns.
“They just smother you,” he said. “You don’t get any big plays against them. It’s hard to get first downs. They’re at the line of scrimmage on a lot of those plays. It’s hard to stay patient.”
DJ Monroe led the Haughton defense in the first half with four solo tackles and two assists, per Haughton stats. Harrison Voigt and Riley Wallis were in on three each.
Haughton hosts Franklin Parish in its homecoming game Friday. The Patriots (1-4) lost to Union Parish 34-8 Friday night.
— Russell Hedges, rhedges@bossierpress.com
