The Haughton Bucs jumped on the Southwood Cowboys early and cruised to a 34-0 District 1-5A victory Friday night at Independence Stadium.
Haughton improved to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in district. Southwood dropped to 0-7 and 0-4.
“That’s what we had to do,” Haughton Head Coach Jason Brotherton said. “To put ourselves in position to get in the playoffs we had to win tonight.”
According to GeauxPreps.com, Haughton is No. 24 in the Class 5A power rankings with three games to play. The top 32 teams in the final rankings make the playoffs.
Haughton scored three touchdowns in the first quarter and led 26-0 at the half.
The Bucs limited the Cowboys to 71 total yards, 33 passing and 38 rushing.
“We played really good right off the bat, had a few big plays early in the game and got ahead,” Brotherton said. “The defense played great all night.”
Colin Rains completed nine of 22 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns.
Jalen Lewis caught three passes for 116 yards and first-quarter touchdowns of 75 and 39 yards. Rashard Douglas caught a 23-yard TD pass in the second quarter.
Tyler Rhodes rushed for 90 yards on 21 carries and had touchdown runs of 2 and 5 yards.
Joshua Sewell caught three passes for 53 yards.
Brayden Stovall recovered a fumble which set up Rhodes’ first TD. Ethan West and Natravious Ball had interceptions.
Special teams got in on the scoring when a Southwood punt deep in Cowboys territory went straight up in the air and bounced back out of the end zone for a safety.
Haughton plays district leader Captain Shreve (7-0, 4-0) Thursday at Lee Hedges Stadium. The Gators defeated Natchitoches Central 31-20 in a battle of unbeatens Friday night.
