In a dramatic battle to the finish, the Parkway Panthers remained undefeated with a 48-43 District 1-5A victory over the Airline Vikings Thursday night at Bobby Marlow Field at Preston Crownover Stadium.
Parkway improved to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in district. The Panthers share the district lead with Evangel Christian and Captain Shreve.
Airline dropped to 3-3 and 1-3 with its third straight loss. The Vikings have scored more than 40 points in all three defeats.
There were eight lead changes in the game.
“It felt like a playoff game just from the emotions to the big plays, to the athletes on the field, to the crowd,” Parkway Head Coach Coy Brotherton said. “It was awesome. It’s fun to be a part of a game like that.
“District 1-5A is known for offense and there was a lot of offensive firepower tonight but it was the defense that made the plays during the game to win. That was pretty cool for our kids to experience that.”
Parkway had two interceptions that made a big difference in the outcome.
Peyton Rayner returned the first one to the Airline 2 in the second quarter. Braxxton Black scored from the one, giving the Panthers a 12-7 lead.
Colby Lee returned the second one 12 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. That gave Parkway its biggest lead of the game at 34-22.
Airline was far from done, though. The Vikings scored two straight touchdowns to go up 36-34 with 10:10 left in the game.
Parkway regained the lead on an 11-yard pass from Williams to Rod Johnson with 6:39 left. The Panthers converted a fourth-and-4 from the Airline 29 with a 17-yard pass.
The Vikings went back on top on a 5-yard run by DJ Allen. That came after Kenny Darby took a shovel pass from Chase Williams around left end for 23 yards.
Max Tinkis’ fifth extra-point kick gave Airline a 43-42 lead with 4:51 left.
The Panthers then drove 64 yards for the go-ahead touchdown, keeping the ball mostly on the ground inside Vikings territory to keep the clock running.
Black scored from 1-yard out with 1:15 left.
That left plenty of time for Airline’s quick-strike offense. The Vikings took over at their 36. A penalty moved the back to the 26.
On fourth-and-6, the Vikings ran a hook-and-lateral that looked like a potential big play.
But Rayner came up to make the tackle well short of a first down with 16 seconds left to play.
“Pretty fired up for him,” Brotherton said. “That’s Coach (Brian) Rayner’s boy. He’s been a part of Parkway football for a long time. Made some plays to help us win a big game that’s pretty cool.”
Brian Rayner, a former head basketball coach and assistant football coach, is now an assistant principal at Parkway.
The game was expected to be high-scoring with two high-powered offenses, but the first half didn’t play out that way.
Parkway scored the only touchdown of the first quarter on a 17-yard pass from Kaleb Williams to Josh Coleman. A two-point conversion attempt failed.
The Vikings took the lead on a 69-yard drive capped by Allen’s 1-yard run and Tinkis’ PAT.
After the TD set up by Rayner’s interception, both teams got fourth-down stops.
After Airline’s stop, Darby went 49 yards around left end and the Vikings led 14-12.
But Williams hit Coleman for a 38-yard score with 40 seconds left in the half. Coleman broke loose from the defender at the 22.
Coleman started on defense at free safety but didn’t start on offense.
The first half ended with Parkway on top 20-14 after a successful two-point conversion.
Airline quickly took the lead, scoring on its first possession of the second half on a 85-yard drive that included a 40-yard completion by Williams.
Darby scored on an 11-yard shovel from Williams.
It took the Panthers three plays to regain the lead. Williams found Gary Burney open deep near the Airline sideline and hit him for a 57-yard touchdown.
That gave Parkway a 28-22 lead and set up the dramatic finish.
Kaleb Williams completed 13-of-22 passes for 310 yards and four touchdowns. Burney had five catches for 144 yards.
AJ Johnson and Black led the Panthers on the ground with 56 and 51 yards, respectively.
Safety Mark Copenhaver led the defense with 16 total tackles. Linebacker Brady Prine had 10 and Rayner nine.
Parkway plays Huntington at Independence Stadium next Friday. The Raiders (3-3, 3-2) defeated Byrd 34-28 Thursday night.
Airline hosts Haughton. The Bucs (1-5, 1-4) lost to Benton 48-40 Thursday night.
Note: This story will be updated with Airline statistics when they are received.
Loyola 56, Bossier 26: Bossier quarterback Montravell Lewis continued his outstanding season but the undefeated Flyers were too much for the Bearkats at Memorial Stadium.
Lewis rushed for 246 yards on 28 carries and scored three touchdowns. He also completed 11-of-21 passes for 109 yards.
Loyola improved to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in District 1-4A. Bossier dropped to 3-3 and 1-2.
Loyola’s Bryce Restovich completed 17-of-19 passes for 317 yards and six touchdowns.
Bossier hosts Northwood. The Falcons (5-1, 2-1) defeated Booker T. Washington 48-8 Thursday night.