The Parkway Panthers got into an early hole in a District 1-5A game against the Captain Shreve Gators on Thursday night at Bobby Marlow Field/Preston Crownover Stadium.
Down two touchdowns in the first quarter, Parkway stayed within striking distance much of the game but couldn’t overcome a strong performance by the Shreve offense in a 41-20 loss.
Parkway fell to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in district. Captain Shreve, which shared the title with Airline last season, improved to 2-1 and 2-0.
For the second week in a row, the teams played on a wet field. Although it wasn’t as bad as Week 2, it was windy and chilly with intermittent light rain.
The Gators jumped out to a 14-0 lead, including a 77-yard TD pass from Ashton Martin to speedster Kendrick Law on their first possession.
Parkway got back in it early in the second quarter. Facing a fourth down at the Shreve 20, the Panthers lined up for an apparent field goal attempt.
But holder Brady Norcross stood up and threw a looping pass that a wide-open Jalun Reed caught in stride running down the sideline. The 27-yard completion cut the Gators’ lead in half.
Norcross had a big night, catching 11 passes for 101 yards.
Shreve answered with a touchdown drive on its next possession. Once again, Parkway got within seven on a nice touchdown run by Rontavious Richmond.
But the Gators scored again before the half and led 28-14. Shreve stretched the lead to 38-14 on an 18-yard run by Law midway through the third quarter and an Alex Auer field goal late in the period.
Richmond raced 30 yards for Parkway’s final TD early in the fourth quarter to make it 38-20.
After Auer added another field goal, Parkway had a chance to score late, getting to the Shreve 1. But an errant snap from center and a penalty pushed the Panthers back.
Parkway quarterback Cannon Link had a solid night throwing the ball. He completed 21 of 33 passes for 225 yards.
Richmond rushed for 135 yards on 17 carries. Reed had five catches for 97 yards, and Price Johnson had three for 40.
Shreve rolled up 355 total yards. Martin completed 12 of 21 passes for 207 yards, 77 of that coming on the early TD pass to Law, with no interceptions.
Sam Smith led the Gators on the ground with 83 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns.
Parkway plays another Thursday night game next week against Byrd at Lee Hedges Stadium. The Yellow Jackets (2-0, 1-0) were scheduled to face Natchitoches Central on Friday.
Captain Shreve visits Benton next Friday. The Tigers (1-2, 1-1) lost to Haughton 7-0 Thursday night.
