The Cedar Creek boys and girls cross country teams qualified for the upcoming state championships thanks to their showing at the recent Louisiana High School Athletic Association Region 1 meet held at the South Bossier Course at the Recreational Complex in Bossier City on Thursday.
Luke Alexander led the Cougars boys team by capturing first place at regionals with a time of 15:55, beating out OCS’s Levi James by more than 30 seconds. Teammate Josh McCarthy finished eighth at the meet with a time of 18:09.90. Alexander and McCarthy will be joined by Will Myers, Grant Alexander, and Andrew Shirley at the state meet.
Caroline James led the Lady Cougars squad with a fifth place finish at the regional event with a time of 21:46 as Anacoco’s Sophia Acevedo won with a time of 19:20.30. Teammates Marley Jinks finished 10th and Evelyn Mills finished 22nd. That trio will join Cat McAdams, and Gabby Smith for the state event.
“I am very proud of both teams and what they have accomplished this season,” said head coach Mikayla Stiles. “We have seen many PRs this season, and that is a result of the hard work these runners put in day in and day out. I am excited to see everyone compete at State and keep the momentum going.”
Cedar Creek will compete in Natchitoches on the campus of Northwestern State on Monday, Nov. 17 in Division IV.
Each Monday through Friday, the Lincoln Parish Journal will post a list of non-for-profit upcoming events happening in the parish. If you would like to add your event to this list or advertise your for-profit events, please email us at lpjnewsla@gmail.com.
Monday, Nov. 10 11:30 a.m.: Lunch on Us (Presbyterian Church, 212 North Bonner Street., Ruston) — everyone welcome 6 p.m.: Toastmasters International meeting (Louisiana Center for the Blind, 101 South Trenton Street) 6-9 p.m.: Creative Meetups (Creatives at Work, 301 N. Trenton)
Tuesday, Nov. 11 Veterans Day 6:30 p.m.: LA Tech women’s basketball 7 p.m.: Lincoln Parish Police Jury meeting (Lincoln Parish Courthouse)
Wednesday, Nov. 12 7-8 a.m.: Veterans Coffee Club (PJ’s Coffee) 11:30 a.m.: Lunch on Us (Presbyterian Church, 212 North Bonner Street., Ruston) — everyone welcome 12-1 p.m.: Rotary Club meeting (Historic Fire Station) 6:30 p.m.: LA Tech volleyball 7 p.m.: Grambling Theatre presents “A Raisin in the Sun” (Floyd L. Sandle Theatre, GSU)
Thursday, Nov. 13 9:30 a.m.: Piney Hills Quilt Guild meeting (Grace Methodist Church) 10 a.m.: Grambling Theatre presents “A Raisin in the Sun” (Floyd L. Sandle Theatre, GSU) 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Ruston Kiwanis Club lunch and program (Trinity Methodist Church fellowship hall) 6 p.m.: Southern A’Chord Chorus rehearsal (Presbyterian Church fellowship hall, 212 N. Bonner St.; open to all women singers) 6:30 p.m.: LA Tech volleyball 7 p.m.: Grambling Theatre presents “A Raisin in the Sun” (Floyd L. Sandle Theatre, GSU)
Friday, Nov. 14 10 a.m.: Grambling Theatre presents “A Raisin in the Sun” (Floyd L. Sandle Theatre, GSU) 6 p.m.: GSU volleyball 7 p.m.: Grambling Theatre presents “A Raisin in the Sun” (Floyd L. Sandle Theatre, GSU)
Monday, Nov. 17 11:30 a.m.: Lunch on Us (Presbyterian Church, 212 North Bonner Street., Ruston) — everyone welcome 5:30 p.m.: Ruston Planning and Zoning Meeting (Ruston City Hall) 6 p.m.: Toastmasters International meeting (Louisiana Center for the Blind, 101 South Trenton Street) 6-9 p.m.: Creative Meetups (Creatives at Work, 301 N. Trenton)
Tuesday, Nov. 18 11:30 a.m.: Lady Techsters basketball 2 p.m.: Ribbon cutting celebrating University Crossing (1201 W. California Ave., Ruston)
Wednesday, Nov. 19 7-8 a.m.: Veterans Coffee Club (PJ’s Coffee) 10 a.m.: RIbbon cutting celebrating Brooks Tendall Insurance (903 Kendall St., Ruston) 11:30 a.m.: Lunch on Us (Presbyterian Church, 212 North Bonner Street., Ruston) — everyone welcome 12-1 p.m.: Rotary Club meeting (Historic Fire Station)
Thursday, Nov. 20 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Ruston Kiwanis Club lunch and program (Trinity Methodist Church fellowship hall) 5:30 p.m.: Ruston Art Ramble (Downtown Ruston) 6 p.m.: Southern A’Chord Chorus rehearsal (Presbyterian Church fellowship hall, 212 N. Bonner St.; open to all women singers) 6 p.m.: Holiday Open House and Kickoff to Christmas (Downtown Ruston)
Saturday, Nov. 22 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Ruston Farmers Market 2 p.m.: LA Tech v. Liberty
Sunday, Nov. 23 2 p.m.: Lady Techsters basketball
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Avery Thomas II hit four three-pointers in leading Tech to a 93-35 win Sunday. (photo by Josh McDaniel)
LA Tech 93, Lyon College 35
Louisiana Tech put on a show in its first home game of the season, rolling past Lyon College, 93-35, on Sunday afternoon inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court.
LA Tech (1-1) shot a blistering 56.9 percent from the field with four Bulldogs scoring in double figures. And after getting outrebounded by 19 in its season opener, the team flipped the script in that category with a +27-rebounding margin (52-25).
Meanwhile, the defense held Lyon College (1-1) to 25.0 percent shooting while forcing 21 turnovers, turning those in 29 points, and recording 15 steals in a wire-to-wire victory.
The Scots hung around in the first half, getting a fastbreak jumper from Kenneth Brown to cut their deficit to 32-20 with 3:29 to play in the stanza.
It was an absolute rout by the Bulldogs after that.
LA Tech closed the first period on a 16-2 spurt that was highlighted by three triples from Avery Thomas II and an alley-oop slam by Kaden Cooper. Capping it off was Cooper pushing the ball up the floor and connecting on a long jumper to beat the game clock, giving LA Tech a 48-22 halftime advantage.
The dominance continued in the second half as the home team opened the frame on a 25-0 run, getting scoring from five different Bulldogs (Scots did not score until the 9:38 mark). A key spark was Jaylen Fenner who got the period started with a four-point play. The true freshman got the start in just his second game as a Bulldog and tallied 15 points to go along with four steals.
Thomas II had 16 of his game-high 18 points in the first half. Thomas II and Fenner combined to go 12-of-16 from the field and 7-of-9 from beyond the arc. Cooper finished with a smooth 16 points while Scooter Williams, also making his first career start as a Bulldog, added 10 points.
It was gang rebounding for LA Tech as six different players had at least five boards, led by Will Allen and Kylan Howze who each had nine. Doing the passing was AJ Bates who tallied seven assists.
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Grambling 73, Howard 70
Grambling State men’s basketball battled back from a halftime deficit to earn a hard-fought 73–70 road victory over Howard University on Saturday evening at Burr Gymnasium.
The Tigers (2–1) outscored the Bison 41–37 in the second half behind a scorching 79% shooting performance after intermission, improving to 2–1 on the young season.
Jamil Muttilib led the charge off the bench with a game-high 21 points, knocking down 5-of-7 three-pointers and providing a major spark in the second half. Jimel Lane added 18 points, including the game-sealing free throws with 19 seconds remaining. Derrius Ward chipped in 12 points and four assists, while Antonio Munoz contributed 11 points and several key baskets in the paint.
Roderick Coffee III anchored Grambling’s floor game with eight rebounds and eight assists, while also hitting a pair of clutch threes.
After trailing 33–32 at halftime, the Tigers opened the second half with back-to-back baskets from Muttilib and Lane to regain the lead. The teams traded blows down the stretch, with the score tied 12 times and the lead changing hands seven times. Muttilib’s hot shooting and Lane’s attacking plays in transition helped Grambling build a late cushion, and the defense came up with key stops in the final minute.
Howard (1–2) was led by Bryce Harris with 15 points, six rebounds, and five steals.
Grambling shot 51% from the field and a sizzling 50% from three-point range (10-for-20), while limiting Howard to just 7-of-15 from beyond the arc. The Tigers also turned 19 Bison turnovers into 19 points and dominated fast-break opportunities, 20–6.
Delaware rallied from an eight-point deficit over the final 60 seconds, including a game-winning 51-yard field goal with 12 seconds to play, to down Louisiana Tech 25-24 Saturday afternoon at Delaware Stadium.
Tech led 24-16 following Jacob Fields interception return for a touchdown — the seventh defensive score on the year for the Bulldogs (5-4, 3-3).
However, the Blue Hens scored on a 3-yard TD pass with just 34 seconds to play to close to within 24-22. The potential game-tying two-point conversion was unsuccessful and the Bulldogs were an onside kick recovery away from their bowl-eligible sealing sixth win.
Tech’s hands team, however, was unable to successfully cover the kick as the Blue Hens recovered on the Bulldogs 40-yard line. Three plays later, Delaware’s Nate Reed hit his fourth field goal of the game, a season long, as Tech dropped another heartbreaking game.
“There were probably three or four areas where we did not execute in a winning manner and that’s the difference in the football game for us,” said head coach Sonny Cumbie.
One of those was special teams.
In a low scoring first half, Tech left points off the scoreboard as Drew Henderson misfired on field goals from 34 and 49 yards. Combined with the inability to recover what would have been the game-sealing onside kick late in the fourth quarter, it was a tough day for the Bulldogs special teams units.
The loss marred a impressive, hard-fought comeback for Tech.
The Bulldogs trailed 16-7 in the fourth quarter before a Henderson 38-yard field goal closed the deficit to 16-10 with 9:09 to play. Following a three-and-out by Delaware, Tech marched 39 yards on eight plays as Clay Thevenin scored his second rushing TD of the day with 3:09 to play to give the Bulldogs a 17-16 advantage.
Fields pick six — a 38-yard return with 2:23 to play — upped the Tech advantage to 24-16.
“I was as pleased with how our guys were able to create takeaways on defense,” said Cumbie. “It’s the highest of highs and lowest of lows, really, throughout the course of this game.”
The Bulldogs defense, which was stellar for the majority of the contest, had an opportunity to seal it with less than two minutes to play. However, on fourth down and 10, a defensive pass interference penalty gave the Blue Hens a first down, keeping the eventual TD drive alive.
Delaware’s potential game-tying two-point conversion — a fade pass to the left corner of the endzone — was broken up as Tech maintained it’s two point lead and was one special teams play away from the victory.
With only one time out remaining, Delaware lined up for the onside attempt. Following a Tech timeout, the Blue Hens executed the onside kick, setting up the final game-winning field goal.
“They executed the onside kick, we weren’t able to get it, and then their kicker made the field goal at the end of the game,” said Cumbie. “Just a heartbreaker for our players, for how much they prepared and put into it and how much they put themselves out there for our staff.”
The defeat spoiled an solid day for Thevenin who rushed for 64 yards and two scores on just 10 carries.
Tech was forced to use three quarterbacks in the game when starter Blake Baker left in the first half with a knee injury and did not return. The QB trio, including Trey Kukuk and Evan Bullock, combined to complete 18 of 25 passes for 202 yards and one interception.
The Bulldogs defense held Delaware to just 4-of-16 on third and fourth down conversions in the game as Fields eight tackles and pick six led the way.
Tech will return to action Saturday when it travels to face Washington State.
“The thing we have to control is our response in terms of how we get back up and show back up and continue to play winning football, because it doesn’t get any easier next week with a trip to Washington State,” said Cumbie.
Nae’Sann Dickerson (11) scored on this 59-yard reception to put Grambling on top 17-10 midway through the second quarter. (Photo by T. Scott Boatright)
By T. Scott Boatright
The trend continued Saturday inside Eddie G. Robinson Stadium as Grambling State somehow found a win to win with a true freshman quarterback — the fourth starting triggerman the Tigers have had to use this season because of injuries.
This time it was true freshman Hayden Benoit who made his first start and directed the Tigers to a hardfought 31-23 win over Bethune Cookman.
Hardfought completely describes this contest as the two teams got into a brawl heading out onto the field after halftime that took game officials at least 15 minutes to settle down and reset things for the second half after ejecting 10 players — five from each team — as a result of the incident.
Grambling State led 24-20 at halftime and got off to a strong start, taking advantage of a Wildcats fumble on the game’s opening drive and converting it into a 23-yard Theodore Cabarello field goal less than two minutes into the opening stanza.
And the Tigers took a 10-0 advantage at the 6:22 mark of the first quarter when Benoit connected with Andrew Frazier on a 38-yard touchdown pass.
But the Wildcats battled back in the second quarter, using a 30-yard field goal to cut the GSU lead to 10-3 at the 13:46 mark of the second quarter before tying things up on a 11-yard quarterback keeper for a score by Timmy McClain with 9:09 left in the first half.
Grambling countered on the ensuing drive using four plays to march 75 yards with Benoit hitting Nae’Saan Dickerson in midstride for a 59-yard scoring strike that put the Tigers back on top 17-10 midway through the second quarter.
Bethune Cookman struck back on the next play from scrimmage as McCalin hooked up with Maleek Huggins on a 61-yard touchdown pass to tie things back up with 7:02 left in the first half.
Grambling scored again on its next possession with Benoit hitting Patrick Williams on a 5-yard touchdown pass to move out in front 24-17 with 4;33 left in the period.
Bethune Cookman used a 39-yard field goal with 1:06 remaining in the second quarter to cut Grambling’s lead to 24-20 at the half.
The brawl before the second half began came as the Tigers were walking off the ramp onto the turf on their sideline and a group of Wildcats walked through the Grambling team and tempers immediately flared, ending up with four or five minutes of scuffling followed by another 10-15 minutes for the referees to regain control, figure out who was going to be ejected, and then start the second half.
“When you play here, you’ve got to make sure as a coach, as a support staff, anybody, that all of your players come down,” Joseph said. “If you’re going to walk down and take your time, and now it’s 3:30 on the clock (left in the halftime period) and we’re standing on the stairs and you’ve got four or five kids that’s just walking down, taking their time — at the end of the day, I think that they know what they’re doing. We were trying to give them respect.
“But it came to a point where we had to take the field. (Coaches) should never leave their players. Who leaves their players (in the locker room) knowing that we’ve got to come down? We’re not going to tolerate disrespect here at Grambling. You won’t disrespect us. We’re going to meet disrespect with disrespect. Be responsible, get your kids out of the locker room and make them get to the field.”
But that wasn’t the way it happened as some of the Wildcats walked through the huddled Tigers at the bottom of the ramp leading on the field, also known as “The Hole” and tempers quickly flared.
“They came down on the field and walked (through the Tigers) onto the field,” Joseph said. “That’s disrespecting the game. You can’t leave your kids up there.”
To Joseph and his staff’s credit, and it was all figured out, the Tigers stayed composed and ready to play clean football, or at least mostly clean, in the second half.
“I called them into a (full team group huddle) and told them, everybody’s got a personal foul,” Joseph said. “The coaches did a good job of regrouping them and settling them down. (Graduate defensive end) John Horton is one of our vocal leaders. And John Horton said, ‘OK, this is enough. We fought already. Let’s not fight. Let’s just play football.’
“So, John Horton helped me with this along with the coaches, because he’s someone who can tell the players, ‘Hey, stop the BS and let’s get going,’ and they’re going to stop the BS. The referees have to be there. They have to escort the team down. You’ve got to escort us down. You know friction is going to happen like that because you see all the little stuff during the game.
“(Bethune Cookman) put the little thing (social media post) up earlier in the week saying they’re coming in ‘The Hole’ and all that. C’mon now. As a referee, you’ve got to be on top of that knowing that there’s some bad blood in this thing. And one thing we’re not going to do here at Grambling, we’re not going to tolerate disrespect. That won’t happen.”
Grambling’s final score came with 4:23 remaining as Benoit hit Keith Jones, Jr. on an 8-yard strike before Bethune Cookman gave itself one last chance to tie thanks to a 44-yard field goal with 1:22 on the clock.
But the Tigers recovered the Wildcats’ onsides attempt and Andrew Crews chewed the clock with runs of 16 and 27 yards before Benoit knelt on the ball on the game’s final play.
“I take my hat off to my coaches and players for digging deep,” Joseph said. “We had some offense today. (Bethune Cookman) was a very explosive offense and our defense slowed them down when they had to slow them down. We’re going to take this win, we’re going to give it 24 hours and we’re going to move on to Alcorn (State).”
Joseph also had nothing but praise for his young quarterback.
“He was 12-of-20 today for 220 yards with four touchdowns and an interception where he got hit and the ball got out of his hand and was picked off,” Joseph said. “He’s a stud. He’s the fourth-string quarterback. I don’t know who in the country is playing with their fourth-string quarterback. (Bethune Cookman) had their top two quarterbacks today and couldn’t get it done. We’re playing with our fourth-string quarterback here at Grambling and you know what? We don’t care. We put 11 on the field and we fight like Tigers. We told all of our players, like I said in my press conference last week, that everybody was going to be called upon. Today Benoit did it.
“Hayden Benoit is a stud. How many people around the country are playing with a 17-year-old quarterback? Not many. He’s 17 and had enough poise and toughness to take the coaching (GSU quarterbacks coach Shyrone Carey) is going to give him and that I’m going to give him — two coaches that were on his neck. I take my hat off to Benoit. He doesn’t say much. He just says, ‘Yes sir’ and moves on, but he’s a stud.”
Joseph said he believes the reason his Tigers have won four straight to move to 7-3 on the season boils down to one key factor.
“We’re not turning the ball over,” Joseph said. “We turned the ball over against (Prairie View). We turned the ball over against Texas Southern. We were about to walk in for a score against Texas Southern and we dropped the ball.,
“If you take care of the football and get turnovers, you can win. You’ve always got to come out ahead in the turnover margin to win football games. And you’ve got to have ball control.I think we did that today.”
Next up for GSU will be a 2 p.m. contest next weekend at Alcorn State, which defeated Southern 35-17 on Saturday to move to 4-6 overall and 3-3 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s West Division.
Tanyala Elmore, born on June 20, 1977, gained her heavenly wings on October 30, 2025, surrounded by the love and care of her devoted family. Though she faced many challenges throughout her life, Tanyala’s strength, joy, and light touched every heart she encountered.
Tanyala was both mentally and physically disabled, yet she lived a life that radiated beauty, laughter, and love. She had a personality all her own bright, expressive, and unforgettable. Though she couldn’t communicate with her voice, she always found her own way to make her wishes known whether through a loud, joyful squeal of excitement or the gentle jerk of her head to say “no.” Her presence filled every room she entered, and her spirit brought warmth, laughter, and connection to all who were blessed to know her.
She was deeply loved and faithfully cared for by her family, who made sure that every day she felt the comfort of love and belonging. To know Tanyala was to experience joy in its purest form she was truly the light in every room.
Tanyala now joins her beloved grandparents in eternal rest: her maternal grandfather, Thelbert Snowden; maternal grandmother, Mary Ellen Snowden; paternal grandfather, Cleothus “Buster” Elmore; and paternal grandmother, Rosie Elmore.
Left to cherish her memory are her loving parents, Robert Earl Elmore and Cheryle D. Elmore (Snowden); her devoted brother, Robert Earl Elmore Jr. (Charlie Samuel); her sister, LaKeitha McDaniel (Marcus McDaniel); her nephew, Cody Lamar Elmore; her nieces, Mya Renee Samuel and Magnolia Marie McDaniel; and a host of cherished aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who will continue to carry her memory in their hearts.
Services celebrating Tanyala’s beautiful life will be held on Saturday, November 15, 2025, at Mt. Harmony Baptist Church in Ruston, Louisiana, beginning at 11:00 a.m., with a graveside burial to follow. A viewing will be held prior to the service from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Tanyala’s life was a gift, a reminder of the power of love, patience, and joy beyond words. Though she will be deeply missed, her light will forever shine in the hearts of all who knew and loved her.
Tanyala Elmore June 20, 1977 – October 30, 2025 Visitation: Saturday, November 15, 2025, 9:00AM – 11:00AM, Mt. Harmony Baptist Church, 210 Mt. Harmony Church Rd, Ruston Service: Saturday, November 15, 2025, 11:00AM, Mt. Harmony Baptist Church, 210 Mt. Harmony Church Rd, Ruston Final Resting Place: Mt Harmony Baptist Church Cemetery210 Mt. Harmony Church Rd Ruston
Monette Alexander Bell August 20, 1937 – November 5, 2025 Visitation: Monday, November 10, 2025, 10:00AM – 11:00AM, Ruston – Kilpatrick Funeral Homes Graveside> Monday, November 10, 2025, 11:30AM, Simsboro City Cemetery, Roberson Road, Simsboro
Linda Mason Cheatham Sunday 03/07/1948 — Tuesday 11/04/2025 Visitation: Sunday 11/09/2025 5:00pm to 7:00pm at King’s Funeral Home Celebration of Life: Monday 11/10/2025 1:00pm at King’s Funeral Home Interment: Monday 11/10/2025 Following Service, Fellowship Baptist Church Cemetery Lillie
Dallis N. Rhone Tuesday 09/14/2010 — Thursday 11/06/2025 Visitation: Saturday 11/15/2025 11:00am to 1:00pm, Temple Baptist Church, 1515 S. Service Road W, Ruston Celebration of Life: Saturday 11/15/2025 1:00pm, Temple Baptist Church, 1515 S. Service Road W, Ruston Interment: Saturday 11/15/2025, George Washington Carver Memorial Park, Martin Luther King Drive, Ruston
Mark Harper Grafton January 24, 1982 – November 5, 2025 Funeral: Monday, November 10, 2025, 10:00 AM, Owens Memorial Chapel Cemetery Committal: Monday, November 10, 2025, 11:45 AM, Pisgah Cemetery, Pisgah Church Road, Bernice
All three Lincoln Parish gridiron teams earned postseason opportunities as Ruston High, Cedar Creek and Lincoln Prep will all participate in the upcoming state championship brackets in their respective divisions.
For the Ruston High Bearcats (8-2, 4-1 District 2-5A), Friday’s win over West Monroe secured both the district crown and a first round bye and the top seed in the playoffs, meaning the Bearcats will get to host every playoff match until the Superdome, should they make it.
“Obviously having a first round bye is certainly helpful,” Ruston High Head Coach Jerrod Baugh said. ” That’s one thing I talked to the kids about — maybe the most important thing it is that we’ve accomplished (Friday) was being able to do that. We’ve just got some healing up that we need to do going into the second-round ball game.”
The Bearcats will await the winner of No. 16 Westgate and No. 17 Airline. Interestingly, the rest of District 2-5A’s qualifying teams ended up on the opposite side of the bracket from Ruston as Neville earned the No. 2 seed, West Monroe earned the No. 10 seed and Ouachita earned the No. 14 seed.
Cedar Creek (6-4, 4-2 District 1-1A) improved by five in the win-column this year and will return to the Select School Division IV playoffs after a one-year hiatus. The Cougars are the No. 19 seed and will travel Friday to play the No. 14 seed and former district rival St. Frederick (5-5, 3-1 District 2-1A).
The Warriors ended their regular season with a 32-29 loss to Delta Charter. After losing their first three games of the season to Lincoln Prep, Franklin Parish and Jena, St. Frederick won five of its last seven games.
“It’s exciting,” said Creek head coach Jacob Angevine. “When I took this job and laid out the foundation of what we wanted the program to be like, I asked the seniors for a goal. I wanted them to give me something they felt we could strive to achieve this year that would get people excited about Cougar football. Their goal was to play in Week 11, to get to the playoffs. We have achieved that goal and are excited about playing this Friday.”
Lincoln Prep (5-5, 4-3) stamped its ticket into the Non-Select School Division IV playoffs with a 51-28 win over Arcadia Friday night. The Panthers are the No. 24 seed and will travel to Eunice to face No. 9 seed St. Edmund on Friday night.
St. Edmund (8-2, 4-2 District 5-1A) won eight of its first nine games before falling 36-22 to Westminster Christian Friday night. The Blue Jays only other loss of the season came to Opelousas Catholic (52-30).
“St. Edmund looks like a disciplined, well-coached team from what I’ve seen on film so far,” Lincoln Prep Head Coach Chaunce Davison said. “We’re still watching video and learning about them. They run a spread offense and have a good, 6-3 quarterback running it.
“We have done pretty good against the spread this season and it looks like we match up pretty good. But we’ll see. It’ll come down to focus and execution.”
Delaware rallied from an eight-point deficit over the final 60 seconds, including a game-winning 51-yard field goal with 12 seconds to play, to down Louisiana Tech 25-24 Saturday afternoon at Delaware Stadium.
Tech led 24-16 following Jacob Fields interception return for a touchdown — the seventh defensive score on the year for the Bulldogs (5-4, 3-3).
However, the Blue Hens scored on a 3-yard TD pass with just 34 seconds to play to close to within 24-22. The potential game-tying two-point conversion was unsuccessful and the Bulldogs were an onside kick recovery away from their bowl-eligible sealing sixth win.
Tech’s hands team, however, was unable to successfully cover the kick as the Blue Hens recovered on the Bulldogs 40-yard line. Three plays later, Delaware’s Nate Reed hit his fourth field goal of the game, a season long, as Tech dropped another heartbreaking game.
“There were probably three or four areas where we did not execute in a winning manner and that’s the difference in the football game for us,” said head coach Sonny Cumbie.
One of those was special teams.
In a low scoring first half, Tech left points off the scoreboard as Drew Henderson misfired on field goals from 34 and 49 yards. Combined with the inability to recover what would have been the game-sealing onside kick late in the fourth quarter, it was a tough day for the Bulldogs special teams units.
The loss marred a impressive, hard-fought comeback for Tech.
The Bulldogs trailed 16-7 in the fourth quarter before a Henderson 38-yard field goal closed the deficit to 16-10 with 9:09 to play. Following a three-and-out by Delaware, Tech marched 39 yards on eight plays as Clay Thevenin scored his second rushing TD of the day with 3:09 to play to give the Bulldogs a 17-16 advantage.
Fields pick six — a 38-yard return with 2:23 to play — upped the Tech advantage to 24-16.
“I was as pleased with how our guys were able to create takeaways on defense,” said Cumbie. “It’s the highest of highs and lowest of lows, really, throughout the course of this game.”
The Bulldogs defense, which was stellar for the majority of the contest, had an opportunity to seal it with less than two minutes to play. However, on fourth down and 10, a defensive pass interference penalty gave the Blue Hens a first down, keeping the eventual TD drive alive.
Delaware’s potential game-tying two-point conversion — a fade pass to the left corner of the endzone — was broken up as Tech maintained it’s two point lead and was one special teams play away from the victory.
With only one time out remaining, Delaware lined up for the onside attempt. Following a Tech timeout, the Blue Hens executed the onside kick, setting up the final game-winning field goal.
“They executed the onside kick, we weren’t able to get it, and then their kicker made the field goal at the end of the game,” said Cumbie. “Just a heartbreaker for our players, for how much they prepared and put into it and how much they put themselves out there for our staff.”
The defeat spoiled an solid day for Thevenin who rushed for 64 yards and two scores on just 10 carries.
Tech was forced to use three quarterbacks in the game when starter Blake Baker left in the first half with a knee injury and did not return. The QB trio, including Trey Kukuk and Evan Bullock, combined to complete 18 of 25 passes for 202 yards and one interception.
The Bulldogs defense held Delaware to just 4-of-16 on third and fourth down conversions in the game as Fields eight tackles and pick six led the way.
Tech will return to action Saturday when it travels to face Washington State.
“The thing we have to control is our response in terms of how we get back up and show back up and continue to play winning football, because it doesn’t get any easier next week with a trip to Washington State,” said Cumbie.
Nae’Sann Dickerson (11) scored on this 59-yard reception to put Grambling on top 17-10 midway through the second quarter. (Photo by T. Scott Boatright)
By T. Scott Boatright
The trend continued Saturday inside Eddie G. Robinson Stadium as Grambling State somehow found a win to win with a true freshman quarterback — the fourth starting triggerman the Tigers have had to use this season because of injuries.
This time it was true freshman Hayden Benoit who made his first start and directed the Tigers to a hardfought 31-23 win over Bethune Cookman.
Hardfought completely describes this contest as the two teams got into a brawl heading out onto the field after halftime that took game officials at least 15 minutes to settle down and reset things for the second half after ejecting 10 players — five from each team — as a result of the incident.
Grambling State led 24-20 at halftime and got off to a strong start, taking advantage of a Wildcats fumble on the game’s opening drive and converting it into a 23-yard Theodore Cabarello field goal less than two minutes into the opening stanza.
And the Tigers took a 10-0 advantage at the 6:22 mark of the first quarter when Benoit connected with Andrew Frazier on a 38-yard touchdown pass.
But the Wildcats battled back in the second quarter, using a 30-yard field goal to cut the GSU lead to 10-3 at the 13:46 mark of the second quarter before tying things up on a 11-yard quarterback keeper for a score by Timmy McClain with 9:09 left in the first half.
Grambling countered on the ensuing drive using four plays to march 75 yards with Benoit hitting Nae’Saan Dickerson in midstride for a 59-yard scoring strike that put the Tigers back on top 17-10 midway through the second quarter.
Bethune Cookman struck back on the next play from scrimmage as McCalin hooked up with Maleek Huggins on a 61-yard touchdown pass to tie things back up with 7:02 left in the first half.
Grambling scored again on its next possession with Benoit hitting Patrick Williams on a 5-yard touchdown pass to move out in front 24-17 with 4;33 left in the period.
Bethune Cookman used a 39-yard field goal with 1:06 remaining in the second quarter to cut Grambling’s lead to 24-20 at the half.
The brawl before the second half began came as the Tigers were walking off the ramp onto the turf on their sideline and a group of Wildcats walked through the Grambling team and tempers immediately flared, ending up with four or five minutes of scuffling followed by another 10-15 minutes for the referees to regain control, figure out who was going to be ejected, and then start the second half.
“When you play here, you’ve got to make sure as a coach, as a support staff, anybody, that all of your players come down,” Joseph said. “If you’re going to walk down and take your time, and now it’s 3:30 on the clock (left in the halftime period) and we’re standing on the stairs and you’ve got four or five kids that’s just walking down, taking their time — at the end of the day, I think that they know what they’re doing. We were trying to give them respect.
“But it came to a point where we had to take the field. (Coaches) should never leave their players. Who leaves their players (in the locker room) knowing that we’ve got to come down? We’re not going to tolerate disrespect here at Grambling. You won’t disrespect us. We’re going to meet disrespect with disrespect. Be responsible, get your kids out of the locker room and make them get to the field.”
But that wasn’t the way it happened as some of the Wildcats walked through the huddled Tigers at the bottom of the ramp leading on the field, also known as “The Hole” and tempers quickly flared.
“They came down on the field and walked (through the Tigers) onto the field,” Joseph said. “That’s disrespecting the game. You can’t leave your kids up there.”
To Joseph and his staff’s credit, and it was all figured out, the Tigers stayed composed and ready to play clean football, or at least mostly clean, in the second half.
“I called them into a (full team group huddle) and told them, everybody’s got a personal foul,” Joseph said. “The coaches did a good job of regrouping them and settling them down. (Graduate defensive end) John Horton is one of our vocal leaders. And John Horton said, ‘OK, this is enough. We fought already. Let’s not fight. Let’s just play football.’
“So, John Horton helped me with this along with the coaches, because he’s someone who can tell the players, ‘Hey, stop the BS and let’s get going,’ and they’re going to stop the BS. The referees have to be there. They have to escort the team down. You’ve got to escort us down. You know friction is going to happen like that because you see all the little stuff during the game.
“(Bethune Cookman) put the little thing (social media post) up earlier in the week saying they’re coming in ‘The Hole’ and all that. C’mon now. As a referee, you’ve got to be on top of that knowing that there’s some bad blood in this thing. And one thing we’re not going to do here at Grambling, we’re not going to tolerate disrespect. That won’t happen.”
Grambling’s final score came with 4:23 remaining as Benoit hit Keith Jones, Jr. on an 8-yard strike before Bethune Cookman gave itself one last chance to tie thanks to a 44-yard field goal with 1:22 on the clock.
But the Tigers recovered the Wildcats’ onsides attempt and Andrew Crews chewed the clock with runs of 16 and 27 yards before Benoit knelt on the ball on the game’s final play.
“I take my hat off to my coaches and players for digging deep,” Joseph said. “We had some offense today. (Bethune Cookman) was a very explosive offense and our defense slowed them down when they had to slow them down. We’re going to take this win, we’re going to give it 24 hours and we’re going to move on to Alcorn (State).”
Joseph also had nothing but praise for his young quarterback.
“He was 12-of-20 today for 220 yards with four touchdowns and an interception where he got hit and the ball got out of his hand and was picked off,” Joseph said. “He’s a stud. He’s the fourth-string quarterback. I don’t know who in the country is playing with their fourth-string quarterback. (Bethune Cookman) had their top two quarterbacks today and couldn’t get it done. We’re playing with our fourth-string quarterback here at Grambling and you know what? We don’t care. We put 11 on the field and we fight like Tigers. We told all of our players, like I said in my press conference last week, that everybody was going to be called upon. Today Benoit did it.
“Hayden Benoit is a stud. How many people around the country are playing with a 17-year-old quarterback? Not many. He’s 17 and had enough poise and toughness to take the coaching (GSU quarterbacks coach Shyrone Carey) is going to give him and that I’m going to give him — two coaches that were on his neck. I take my hat off to Benoit. He doesn’t say much. He just says, ‘Yes sir’ and moves on, but he’s a stud.”
Joseph said he believes the reason his Tigers have won four straight to move to 7-3 on the season boils down to one key factor.
“We’re not turning the ball over,” Joseph said. “We turned the ball over against (Prairie View). We turned the ball over against Texas Southern. We were about to walk in for a score against Texas Southern and we dropped the ball.,
“If you take care of the football and get turnovers, you can win. You’ve always got to come out ahead in the turnover margin to win football games. And you’ve got to have ball control.I think we did that today.”
Next up for GSU will be a 2 p.m. contest next weekend at Alcorn State, which defeated Southern 35-17 on Saturday to move to 4-6 overall and 3-3 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s West Division.
RUSTON, La. — It will not be a night soon forgotten.
Explosive scores. Special teams touchdowns. Defensive stops. Thirteen total touchdowns and over 1,000 combined yards of total offense.
Two teams that came to play in a thriller that saw the Ruston Bearcats (8-2, 4-1 District 2-5A) the victors of the night over the West Monroe Rebels (7-3, 3-2 District 2-5A) 49-44 in front a capacity crowd at Hoss Garrett Stadium on Senior Night.
“A lot of things happened during this game,” Ruston High School Jerrod Baugh said. “I’m just really proud of our kids for giving themselves an opportunity at the end to win the ball game. I told them at halftime that it didn’t matter what the score was — they needed to wash some of the bad things that happened out in the first half and get ride of that. We needed to get stops on defense when we could and get the ball scored on offense when we could, and they gave themselves an opportunity to play because they kept playing hard.”
Following Ruston’s defensive forcing West Monroe to punt on their first offensive drive of the night, sophomore Dalen Powell returned it 84 yards at the 10:04 mark of the first quarter to put Ruston up 7-0. The Rebels would punt again, pinning Ruston inside its own five yard line for the second drive of the night. Six plays later, Powell would get into the end zone for his second touchdown of the quarter — thanks in large part to a wide receiver pass from junior Ahmad Hudson to junior quarterback Sam Hartwell on a trick play that set up the score. Ruston would lead 14-0 with 4:15 to go in the first.
The Bearcats seemed to be cruising with a two-score lead, but senior Rebel tailback Christian Ponti didn’t get that memo. On the ensuing drive, Ponti would get a 53-yard touchdown and broke numerous tackles in the process to cut the lead to 14-7 with 1:57 to go in the first.
After forcing Ruston’s offense to turn the ball over on downs, senior Rebel Kedrian McNeil would get his first score of the night with a 54-yard touchdown run to tie the game 14-14 with 10:56 to go in the second.
On Ruston’s next drive, the Bearcats found themselves staring at a 3rd down and 30 situation. Cue Hudson, who hauled in a 31 yard pass for the first down. Junior receiver Josiah Morgan then caught a 30-plus yard ball on the next play to set up Powell yet again for another touchdown — this time from one-yard out to go up 21-14 with 7:18 to go before the half.
West Monroe would answer again when Ponti scored his second touchdown of the night from 25-yards would to tie the game 21-21 at the 4:40 mark.
Powell, however, had more excitement to give the Ruston crowd as he returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown just 16 seconds later to give Ruston a 28-21 lead. The Bearcats then recovered the onside kick from junior Joaquin Ramos as senior Alex Hunt made a perfect play on the ball for the recovery. Unfortunately for Ruston, the Bearcats would not be able to get any points and turned the ball over on downs.
West Monroe capitalized on the opportunity as junior quarterback Jake Guillot found junior wide receiver Jordan Coleman for a 67-yard touchdown with under two minutes to go in the half to tie the game yet against 28-28.
The Bearcats, though, were able to get the halftime lead 35-28 after Morgan caught his first of two touchdown passes on the night with :39 to go before halftime. Ruston fans were feeling bullish going into the locker room as the Bearcats were slated to get the ball to start the second half.
As fate would have, however, Ruston’s first play from scrimmage was a 20-plus yard option keeper that went into Rebel territory that ended up being turned over to West Monroe. The Rebels then marched down the field and had to settle for a 26-yard field goal from senior Hunter Fox to cut Ruston’s lead to 35-31 with 7:46 to go in the third quarter.
On the next drive, Powell would have hit foot rolled over in a pile after a rush. Unfortunately, he would have to leave the game and did not return. From there, junior tailback Kohl Gray took over and Baugh said that he never missed a beat.
“We’ll pray for Dalen and hope for the best,” Baugh said. “I’ll tell you, kids always think that coaches are full of it whever they tell them they’re only one play away from getting out there, and they’ve got to know everything it is that we’re tyring to do and be able to execute just like if you were the starter. Kohl did a wonderful job for Dalen once he went down. He jumped in a did a great job.
“We’ll be checking on Dalen. But the fact of the matter is that if he’s not okay or he has to be out for a while, we’ll have to do the best we can with who those next guys are. Obviously, Kohl can do some good things back there, too.”
The Bearcats marched forward, scoring on a 27-yard touchdown to Morgan with 4:38 to go in the third quarter and putting Ruston up 42-31.
West Monroe scored on its next drive as McNeil had another touchdown run of over 50 yards to cut the Bearcat lead back to 42-38 at the 2:40 mark in the third quarter.
The Rebel defense then appeared to have Ruston on its heels on a third down, but another trick play call by offensive coordinator Earl Griffin had Morgan taking a reverse for a long gain toward the end of the third quarter. A few plays later, Hudson grabbed a jump ball touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter to give Ruston a 49-38 lead.
Both defenses would trade defensive three-and-outs, but the Rebels would score after putting together the longest touchdown drive of the night by either team: just under four minutes when McNeil ran in from two yards out with 4:39 left to play. The Rebels tried a two-point coversion, but senior Devin Major intercepted Guillot’s pass to put the score at 49-44.
Ruston would string together a long, time consuming drive that ended in strange fashion. Facing fourth and inches, a questionable unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was thrown on Ruston, backing the Bearcats up and forcing a Ramos punt. The Rebel special teams sent an all out block on the punt, and while Ramos got the punt away, he was tangled up by two Rebels.
No flag was thrown.
“We need to get that corrected,” Baugh said of the penalty. “That kind of thing can’t happen in a time like that. But again, you’re dealing with high school kids and obviously a very tense situation. So we’ve just got to learn how to handle that a little bit better. And htne I was told (their player) got blocked into the punter. I just looked up and saw Joaquin lying on the ground. I was watching the punt to see where it landed, and then I look back and he’s limping around. I’m going to yell one way or the other, but (the officials) told us what happened, and we’ll trust that.”
The Bearcat defense held on, though, as the clock expired and Guillot was rushed into an awkward throw as he was hit.
Now Ruston awaits its official playoff seeding, though early unofficial results put Ruston at No. 1 overall, meaning the Bearcats have secured a first-round bye and would host all playoff games at home up until a possible appearance in the state championship game.
Official brackets will be released on Monday, Nov. 10.
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It was a total team win with emotions flooding the atmosphere at L.J. “Hoss” Garrett Stadium Friday night as the Ruston Bearcats held on for an epic 49-44 win over West Monroe.
Everybody played their part in the win.
The star of the game early on was Ruston’s Dalen Powell, who ran a punt back 84 yards for the opening touchdown only 1:56 into the contest.
Before he left the game, Powell added a 99-yard kick return for a score while rushing for 70 yards and another two touchdowns.
It was indeed a special performance, as noted by RHS Special Teams coach Todd Garvin.
“Those plays happened to be the difference in the ballgame really,” Garvin said. “That was a special guy back there — No. 5, Dalen Powell — and then his teammates on that kick return and the punt return doing their jobs to make it happen. Dalen was great, but it took all 11 guys on both plays to make that happen.”
Garvin admitted the RHS coaches had been asking the team to make something happen on special teams.
“We’ve had some chances in previous games but the outcomes we wanted didn’t happen,” Garvin said. “The details were the biggest reason. We asked the kids to buy in and get better at it, and we took advantage of those moments tonight.”
Ruston’s offensive line played its part in helping Powell’s rushing performance, including a 3-yard scoring scamper.
“We’ve got Brooks Brown, who is probably the most undersized lineman in 2-5A but has started every district ballgame the past two years — he ought to be a unanimous First Team All-District selection,” said RHS offensive line coach Brian Beck. “He leads our team. The heart and what our offensive line brings to our football team is incredible.
“I’m just happy being able to coach those kinds of kids because the heart, leadership and character they have is why we won this ballgame.”
But Powell wasn’t the only Bearcat to turn in a spectacular game. Junior receiver Josiah Morgan was money on the night — hauling in three passes for 86 yards, including touchdown receptions of 15 and 28 yards while adding two carries for 41 yards, including a 40-yard end around to set up an 4-yard touchdown pass from Sam Hartwell to Ahmad Morgan.
“Going into the game, we trusted the gameplan and trusted in each other that we were going to come out with the win,” Morgan said. “We executed the way we needed to and it all worked out.
“I know there’s always a time and place to shine like it was for me tonight. It was my time and I did what I had to do. I give all praise to God. I worked hard in the offseason and now it’s showing.”
Midway through the third quarter, Powell went down with a lower leg injury and was carried off the field immediately into a medical tent the RHS training staff quickly set up.
But junior Bearcat Kohl Gray didn’t blink. He just put on his helmet and went to work.
“It was time for the next man up,” said RHS offensive coordinator Earl Griffin. “I was worried. Dalen is like the focal point of our offense. I was afraid the offense was going to start losing confidence in the game.
“The offense came together and said a quick prayer for him and it was next man up and they went out and won the game. Kohl has the mindset of (former Bearcat) Dyson Fields. He’s a hard runner. He’s been waiting on this opportunity. He wanted this opportunity. It happened and he showed everybody what he can do tonight.”
Gray ended up rushing for 75 yards on 12 carries.
“The next man had to step up, and this time it was my turn,” Gray said. “I just had to wait for the moment. Tonight was that moment. I just had to step up and make some plays for the team.”
It wasn’t the season finale the Cougars had in mind.
Cedar Creek committed three turnovers, eight penalties (that were accepted), and netted only 128 total yards of offense in falling 30-0 to Jonesboro Hodge Friday night at Caldwell-Peacock Stadium.
It was truly a game to forget for the green and gold.
With the loss, Cedar Creek (6-4, 4-2) will head on the road next Friday night for a first round playoff match-up after entering the game against J-Hodge with hopes of earning a home postseason game with a win.
Cougar head coach Jacob Angevine tried to shoulder the blame for the performance postgame.
“I didn’t have them ready,” said Angevine. “It’s my fault. This whole game is my fault. I just didn’t have our guys ready. Mentally, we were not ready. Physically, we were not ready.”
The game started out on a positive note when the Cougars recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff inside Tigers territory. After picking up the first of only seven first downs on the night, Creek faced a fourth and 17 from the J-Hodge 31 yard line when Dakota Knox intercepted a Brett Bell pass and returned it 71 yards for a score.
It was the first of three turnovers on the night.
The second of those came on the ensuing possession when a third down shotgun snapped was mishandled by Bell and the Tigers recovered on the Cougars 42-yard line. Six plays later, Knox found a teammate for a 14-yard TD pass and a 12-0 Tigers lead.
“They outplayed us in every facet of the game,” said Angevine. “And that’s a reflection of me. It’s on me.”
Creek entered the contest having established a run-heavy, efficient offense over the past month. Week in and week out, the Cougars were amassing over 300 yards on the ground behind the three-headed monster of Bell, Payton Harris and Trigger Woodard.
However, the Tigers solved the Creek’s rushing attack, holding the Cougars to just 70 yards on 33 attempts. One-third of the Cougars runs ended in zero or negative yards.
“Jonesboro-Hodge played great defensively up front,” said Angevine. “They were cutting us and we just couldn’t get the pitch going. It was not our brand of football tonight. The past couple of weeks, we have played a real physical brand of football. That team was not us tonight.”
Trailing 18-0 late in the first half, the Cougars mounted their best drive of the night. With 12 seconds to play in the half, Bell found a wide open teammate in the back of the endzone, but the would-be TD was dropped. With only six seconds remaining and no timeouts left, the Cougars tried to run Bell but he was tackled on the three-yard line as the clock ran out.
Jonesboro Hodge (7-3, 5-1) added a pair of TDs in the second half to push the lead out to the final.
Creek will now wait to find out who they will play in the opening round of the Select School Division IV playoffs, and Angevine said a different Cougars team would play in that postseason game.
“I can promise you this, we will be ready,” said Angevine. “The team that showed up tonight will not show back up. We will be ready for next week no matter where we have to travel. We will be ready.”
ARCADIA — The Lincoln Preparatory School football team had one mission Friday night — win at Arcadia to lock up at least the final playoff berth in the Division IV Select School playoffs.
And for the Panthers as the final seconds ticked off the clock, it was mission accomplished as Lincoln Prep left Bienville Parish with a 51-28 win and started turning their focus toward postseason play.
“I’m proud of this team and the way they played tonight,” Davison said. “Anytime we play Arcadia it’s a tough, hard football game. But this team kept fighting and never backed down. They kept their focus on our first goal, and that was one earning a spot in the playoffs. Now we get back to work because we hope there’s more wins in store for us down the road.”
Davison said that looking at Louisiana High School Athletic Association power rankings, it looks like that road leads to Reserve in St. John Parish and Riverside High School.
“It’ll be announced Sunday, but from looking at the power rankings it looks like we’re going to be headed to Riverside,” Davison said. “We’re 24 and they’re No. 9, so unless something crazy happens it looks like that’s where we’re headed.”
Arcadia struck first against the Panthers in the regular season finale, building an 8-0 advantage before the Panthers countered with a pair of touchdowns of their own to take a 15-8 lead by the end of the opening stanza.
Lincoln Prep went into the locker room at halftime on top 29-22 thanks to a 13-yard touchdown pass from Josh Kelly to Josiah Spann.
“Josiah scored right before the half ended,” Davison said. “It was a little tight end dump and he hauled it in.”
The Panthers took control early in the third quarter, scoring on their first drive of the second half before adding another score shortly later on a strip sack by Javion Shelton he returned 38 yards for a touchdown on Arcadia’s ensuing drive.
Shelton finished with a team-best 10 tackles, with two of those coming behind the line of scrimmage, along with two forced fumbles including the one he returned for a score.
“They made plays when they were supposed to,” Davison said. “We’ve made big plays on defense like we have all season long. But I’d still like to see our defense be more consistent as far as tackling. But when their number was called and we needed them, they made some plays.”
Kelly completed 7-of-8 pass attempts for 138 yards, with the touchdown to Spann and an interception.
To no one’s surprise, senior Trey Spann and sophomore Jabari Levingston were the offensive workhorses for the Panthers, with Levingston rushing for 150 yards on six carries, including scoring runs of 65 and 25 yards while adding a pair of catches for 58 yards.
Trey Spann totaled 53 yards on four carries, running to paydirt on scoring runs of 1 and 41 yards.
“Those are two that we’re going to always call their numbers,” Davison said. “But we’re going to need them to go further in the playoffs.”
Howard Kirkpatrick added three carries for 36 yards while Zion Hicks totaled 37 yards on three rushing attempts along with a 17-yard catch.
Kirkpatrick, Jr. totaled six takedowns, including two for losses on defense while Trey Spann recorded four tackles along with a pair of pass breakups.
Three other Panthers — Dylan Nshom, Dextin Washington and Eli Ferguson added four tackles each, with Nshom and Washington recorded two takedowns behind the line of scrimmage while Ferguson chipped in with a fumble recovery and a pass breakup.
True freshman quarterback Hayden Benoit (18) will be Grambling’s fourth starting quarterback of the season when the Tigers play host to Bethune-Cookman on Saturday. (Photo by T. Scott Boatright)
By T. Scott Boatright
Coming off an unlikely win — even stunning for many — Grambling State will start its fourth different quarterback of the season when the Tigers kick off against Bethune Cookman at 2 p.m. today inside Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium.
With No. 1 quarterback C’zavian Teasett and No. 2 quarterback Ashton Frye both out with injuries, the Tigers turned to third-stringer A’Myne Darensbourg, a true freshman, to start last week’s game against Alabama A&M.
And when Darensbourg went down with a leg injury and had to be helped off the field late the opening stanza, Joseph was forced to turn to fourth-string quarterback Hayden Benoit, another true freshman.
And somehow, the Tigers managed to earn a 13-10 win despite totaling only 175 yards of offense and converting only 1-of-26 third down attempts.
If not for a pair of Josh McCormick field goals and a 64-yard punt return to paydirt by Delano Franklin, the GSU offense would have been shut out.
“It was an ugly win,” Joseph said. “Ugly offense. Very ugly. It had a lot to do with trying to protect the quarterback and trying to make sure every position ended with a kick, either an extra point, a field goal or a punt. We were bad on third down. Our defense was awesome on third down — 0 of out 11. But we were trying to protect this kid (Benoit).
“Hayden is in a better place now knowing what we’re asking him to do. During the game when he had to go in, we had to ask him what he understood. He was a really good quarterback in high school, so we’re going to look at what he did then and try to get him comfortable. He’s a very confident kid. We’ll be better. “We’re talking about a kid that didn’t get any reps in September or October and now he’s the guy. So we’re piecing it together. It is what it is. We’ve got to get it out of the mud. Everybody’s got to step their game up and really around this kid.”
Joseph knows Bethune-Cookman will present an even bigger challenge this week after winning five out of their last six games after a 0-3 start to the season.
“It’s a tough matchup,” Joseph said. “It’s a tough matchup for our defense and a tough matchup for our offense because they’re really athletic on defense also. On offense, they’re very explosive. They know how to score points. They’re triggerman is a really seasoned kid that’s been around for a while. And they do a good job with their scheme. They spread you out and when they do that, you’ve got to do out there (and cover) because if you don’t, they’re going to throw the ball out there because now they’re one-on-one. Their skill guys are really good in the open field. They make you miss.
“So, we’ve been working our butts off this week on open field tackling and finding ways to put pressure on them like some unscouted looks to try to slow them down a little bit. But it’s a really good football team. We’re catching them at a bad time. It’s not good for us. They’re hot.”
The Tigers (6-3 overall and 3-2 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference) have moved true freshman wide receiver Isiah Coleman, who played quarterback in Jasper, Texas, back to his high school position behind center to back up Benoit, and Joseph said running back Bryron Eaton, Jr. will also once against get some snaps behind center out of the Wildcat formation.
“We have Isiah,” Joseph said. “We’re going to rep him up a little bit and still use the Wildcat to take some hits off of Hayden. But we’ve got to do a better job in the run game and I know we will because everything we ask them to improve on, they improve on. Shyrone and I were part of the problem because we were both on the headsets saying,’ What do you think?’ to each other. We were trying to protect him because he’s our fourth guy. But Hayden’s revved up and ready to go.”
Joseph said he’s been focused on putting last week’s offensive performance in the past and to continue the resilience they showed in that win.
“I’m telling them to not overthink it,” Joseph said. “We’re playing with our fourth quarterback. We didn’t play well up front. We didn’t play well at the running back position. We missed some runs. We missed some blocks up front. We’re piecing it together but I told my coaches to not overthink it.
“This is a tight-knit group, a feisty group. We’re playing with our fourth-string quarterback. A lot of teams would have folded. But this team rallied around the kid. I told the coaches I think the players don’t blink because the coaches don’t blink. Nobody blinked. We’ve been behind. But I always say let’s just play 60 minutes and see what happens. And they played for 60 minutes. I take the win because it was a win. Now we move on to Bethune Cookman.”
Linebacker Jadon Mayfield almost got to the Sam Houston quarterback for a sack on this Halloween night play in Louisiana Tech’s 55-14 rout of the Bearkats. (Photo by JOSH MCDANIEL, Louisiana Tech Athletics)
JOURNAL SERVICES
NEWARK, Del. – After a couple of home games, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs are going coast-to-coast seeking bowl eligibility.
Tech (5-3 overall, 3-2 in Conference USA) visits new CUSA member Delaware (4-4, 2-3) Saturday at 2 CT, then travels to Pullman, Wash., next Saturday for a non-conference contest at Washington State.
The Bulldogs will be in the bowl-eligible pool with their sixth win this season. Their last two games are against Liberty and another CUSA newcomer, Missouri State.
Sonny Cumbie’s fourth Bulldogs team is taking aim for their first six-win season since 2019. The intersectional contest will stream on ESPN+.
Saturday will be the second all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and Fightin’ Blue Hens and the first in 43 years. Delaware dumped the 1982 Bulldogs 17-0 in the Division I-AA semifinals in Ruston.
Tech was dominant last Friday, defeating Sam Houston 55-14 on homecoming. The 55 points were the most scored by the Bulldogs since Sept. 26, 2020, when they put up 66 against Houston Baptist, the highest total in the Sonny Cumbie era.
The score also tied for the sixth-most points in a CUSA game for the Bulldogs, the most in a league matchup since 2016.
The Bulldogs’ offense racked up 646 total yards, the third-most ever in a CUSA game by Tech and the most in a single game since Oct. 12, 2019, versus UMass. The Bulldogs rushed for 426 yards, the third-most in program history and the most in a game since 1991, while scoring six rushing touchdowns, tied for the fourth most in program history (most since 2015).
Tech’s 55 points against Sam Houston were the most scored by the Bulldogs since Sept. 26, 2020, and the most in the Cumbie era.
It wasn’t all offense. Jacob Fields intercepted the team’s 13th pass of the season and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown.
First-year Bulldog Clay Thevenin had a game to remember against Sam Houston, as the junior college transfer rushed for a career-high 143 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 carries. Thevenin broke runs of 50 and 25 yards while averaging 13.0 yards per carry. It marked his first game with multiple touchdowns. He leads the team with 439 rush yards and six touchdowns.
The Bulldogs lead the FBS with six defensive touchdowns, matching the program record set in 2011. In total, Tech’s defense has forced 15 turnovers, including 13 interceptions, fifth nationally.
BOSSIER CITY, La. — Ruston High School’s cross country teams both turned in solid performances Thursday with the girls taking first place overall and the boys coming in second at the LHSAA D1 – Region 1 held at the South Bossier Course and hosted by Parkway.
“Today was a good day for us,” The kids did such a good job of running within their capabilities today and competing really well. This led to a large number of our kids running around their best times of the year or in some cases smashing their personal records (PRs). Any time we go out there and we can get some really steady racing from most people and a breakthrough performance or two, we’re always going to finish in a good spot. The kids know that and they did that today, even under the pressure of the Regional Championships.”
The girls took first place with 33 points (1+2+8+9+13(20+25)) — 49 points better than second place Byrd. Sophomore Eden Dawsey led the way with the overall victory at 18 minutes, 09.40 seconds, while senior Hallie Hebert grabbed second at 18:26.80. Junior Maddison Morris finished with a time of 19:24.50 for eighth place, while senior Maddy Parkman finished right after her at ninth with a time of 19:30.40. Junior Addison Brister rounded out the scoring for Ruston at 19:53.20.
“Our region is huge and covers the entire state, excluding Baton Rouge and New Orleans. For our girls to go out and win it, they’re really doing something, and they’ve now won five times in the past six years. I really like the tone the leaders set today. Eden and Hallie did a phenomenal job controlling the race, and they didn’t give anyone a chance to hang around them and beat them on a fluke at the end. I thought the Maddy’s ran really well and Addie Belle sealed the deal for us. She held her spot well throughout the race. Then we even got a huge PR from junior Aydan Murry (20:25.50) which displaced the Byrd runners’ scores and put them further away from us.”
Cochran also mentioned the effort from sophomore Mary Hammond, who placed 26th with a time of 20:42.10.
“It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t talk about Mary too,” Cochran said. “She missed being all region (top 25) by one spot and she was really upset. But, I’m so proud of her and the growth she’s shown this year as an athlete. Our girls wanted her to hold the trophy in all the photos because they know what she means to the team. I was very proud of them all today.”
On the boys’ side, the Bearcats took second with a total score of 75 points (4+8+18+21+24 (30+32)) as Parkway won overall at 50 points. Senior Al-Amin Wilson led the pack for fourth at 15:23.60, while senior Joshua Daulton took eighth at 15:39.40. Junior Preston Parker finished 18th at 16:19.60, while senior Ben Boudreaux took 12th at 16:23.40. Junior Wyatt Hancock was Ruston’s final scorer at 24th with a time of 16:27.20.
“The boys got runner up today and I’m very proud of them as well,” Cochran said. “They fought very hard against a Parkway team that probably has the best runner in the state and a great core of front runners. I couldn’t find a bad thing to say about the parkway guys. They’re top notch people. AJ went out today and ran a huge PR (15:23) to get us started and we gave it a good run behind them. We just couldn’t quite finish. We were really missing Luke today. He’s been our best guy at times and was a for sure top 10 guy. He got a little injury before district and he’s tried really hard to nurse it and be ready. He gave it a go today and just couldn’t complete in the front. The kid is all heart and I knew he wouldn’t be happy if he didn’t try. I’ll take a loss with him on our team any day. He’s that special of a kid. Preston Parker has a phenomenal run today and gave us a shot to still get in the team title mix. We were there until the last kiloment. There was a really fun intense battle with Parkway going on during the entire race.”
Cochran also praised the junior varsity squads for competing in the “Last Chance Meet” with both the girls and Kellen Ketchum making great showings, as well.
“What’s even better is when we got to the JV races we dominated,” Cochran said. “The girls put 5 in the top 10 and the boys put 10 in the top 13 to take the team titles. Kellen Ketchum stayed focused and ran a huge PR (16:15) to take the win and punched his way onto the state team for us. I look at performances like today and it shows the depth and dedication of our kids. We don’t just coach the best ones. We’re trying to give every kid a chance to develop at Ruston and when I see days like today it makes me proud of our team. It’s a great group of people to be around. Somebody from this race today will make a huge impact on the varsity race next year for us. I have some names in my head and I’m confident that will be true. It’s been a great year and we’re all looking forward to state.”
Sabine Parish Sheriff Aaron Mitchell has announced the arrest of Zwolle Assistant Police Chief Christopher Scott Goodman, 48, of Many, for allegedly staging the shooting of his patrol vehicle early Sunday morning, October 26.
Sabine Parish Sheriff detectives began investigating the shooting that morning after Goodman claimed a vehicle pulled up behind/beside him and fired at his patrol unit while he was driving on U.S. Highway 171 near Old Pleasant Hill. Louisiana State Police Troop E investigators assisted with the investigation over the past week.
Inconsistencies in Goodman’s story of the events, initial digital and firearm evidence, and statements from other individuals led to probable cause for an arrest warrant for Goodman, according to Sheriff Mitchell.
Goodman was booked into the Sabine Parish Detention Center for felony malfeasance in office, felony tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice, criminal damage to property—all felonies—and criminal mischief, a misdemeanor.
Information on Goodman’s bail was not immediately available.
This case remains under investigation as other forms of evidence are obtained and analyzed.
Goodman is still employed with the Zwolle Police Department, but he was placed on leave after his arrest Monday morning.
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