Here is a quick look at Friday’s games involving Bossier Parish teams. All games kick off at 7 p.m.
Parkway (2-1) at Benton (3-0): This is a District 1-5A opener and Benton’s first district game as member of the LHSAA’s highest classification. The Panthers and Tigers haven’t met since 2010 when both were in District 1-4A.
Benton is coming off a 57-30 victory over Huntington. The Tigers have yet to put together a complete game. They gave up multiple big plays in the first half against Huntington and trailed 30-27. But Benton dominated on both sides of the ball in the final two-and-a-half quarters, scoring 37 unaswered points.
Parkway simply ran into the proverbial buzzsaw against undefeated Alexandria. The Panthers are much better offensively than they showed. The defense was on the field a long time.
The Panthers will be out to prove last week’s performance was a fluke. The Tigers will try to make their 1-5A debut a memorable one in front of the home crowd.
Natchitoches (1-2) at Airline (2-1): This is a District 1-5A opener. Natchitoches Central moved into the district this season from District 2-5A.
The Chiefs could easily be undefeated. They lost to North DeSoto 29-26 in their opener and Lake Charles College Prep 50-49 last week. Their lone win was over Many 21-12. Rodney Robinson rushed for more than 100 yards in that game.
Airline played Ruston to a 21-21 draw at the half last week, but the Bearcats pulled away in the second for a 49-28 victory.
Turnovers and the inability to slow down Ruston’s ground game hurt the Vikings. Airline had trouble running the ball, but Alex Garcia passed for 263 yards and three TDs.
Daniel Smith had nine catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns.
Byrd (0-3) at Haughton (3-0). The Bucs, who defeated Woodlawn 56-12 last week, are ranked No. 6 in the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 5A poll.
Byrd’s 0-3 record is misleading. The Yellow Jackets’ opponents have a combined record of 8-1. West Monroe, which lost to defending Texas Class 6A, Division II champion Longview 17-7 last week, is ranked No. 3 in Class 5A. Calvary Baptist, which defeated Byrd 37-25 last week, is No. 2 in Class 1A.
Haughton has won the last two meetings, 44-19 in 2017 and 42-21 last year. The 2017 victory was the Bucs’ first over the Jackets since moving up to District 1-5A in 2011.
Keeping the Jackets’ option offense from making long, time-consuming drives will be key. Byrd will obviously try to keep the Bucs’ explosive offense off the field.
An early lead will be a good sign for Haughton. But this one could go down to the wire.
North Caddo (2-1) at Bossier (3-0): The Bearkats will be looking to go 4-0 for the first time this decade. North Caddo has split one-point games the last two weeks, falling to Plain Dealing 29-28 in Week 2 and defeating St. Mary’s 14-13 last week.
Bossier is coming off a 48-40 victory over Logansport. The Bearkats had a 41-20 lead and then held off the Tigers in the final minute to preserve the victory.
Decamerion Richardson rushed for more than 200 yards for the third straight game with 205 on 16 carries. He scored four TDs, including one on a pass reception. For the season, he’s rushed for 621 yards.
James Davis went over 100 yards rushing for the second straight week.
Charzay Morris leads the Rebels on the ground with 295 yards on 35 carries.
Plain Dealing (2-1) at Haynesville (0-3): This is a District 1-1A opener. Perennial Class 1A power Haynesville is off to an uncharacteristically rough start. The Tors have won 12 straight district titles and 41 since 1970, according to 14-0 Productions.
After losing to North Webster in Week 1, Haynesville has lost to Minden 35-7 and Junction City, Ark., 41-0.
According to head coach James Thurman, Plain Dealing is looking for only its second win over Haynesville in the last 38 years. The Tors won 35-8 last season en route to a 10-0 regular season.
Plain Dealing is coming off a 32-2 victory over Tensas and needs just one win to equal last year’s total. Senior quarterback Ken Gay has passed for 573 yards and eight touchdowns. Darrien Perry has caught 18 passes for 306 yards and four touchdowns.
