The Homer Pelicans pulled away late for a 51-24 victory over the Plain Dealing Lions in a District 1-1A game Friday night in Plain Dealing.
The Lions dropped to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in district. Homer improved to 5-4 and 5-1.
The final score is a bit deceptive. After trailing 19-8 at the half, Plain Dealing rallied to within 25-24 in the third quarter.
Also, Homer scored a couple of TDs, including an interception return, within a minute late in the game after pulling ahead 37-24.
“In the third quarter we played pretty well and pulled within a point,” Plain Dealing head coach James Thurman said. “But we weren’t able to stop them. They went back down and scored again, got a two-point conversion and went up by a nine again. Then we kind of battled back and forth there for awhile.”
Plain Dealing had some chances in the first half but failed to score twice on drives inside the 10.
“We couldn’t put it in the end zone, left some opportunities on the field,” Thurman said.
Some breakdowns in pass protection, poor tackling and turnovers contributed to the loss, Thurman said.
But he was mostly pleased with the way his team competed.
Quarterback Ken Gay ran for one touchdown and passed two to Cedarius Johnson and Artavious Washington-Carper.
“The kids played hard,” Thurman said. “They kind of got a little discouraged late in the game. They played really well in certain times of the game and I was proud of that.
“That’s something we can kind of hang our hat on moving forward next week and into the playoffs. But there are definitely some things I think we can get right that we didn’t do too well (Friday) night.”
Plain Dealing closes the regular season Friday at home against Magnolia School of Excellence (0-9, 0-6). The first-year Mariners lost to Lincoln Prep 43-6 Thursday night.
At No. 14 in the Class 1A power rankings through Friday’s games, according to louisianasportsline.com, the Lions have a good chance to host a first-round playoff game. The top 16 teams in the final rankings will be at home.
