Louisiana: Battle on the Border Recap

Written by Charlie Beuttel

Twitter: @charlie_cds3

Battle of the Border Recap 

Friday 9/11/15

Game No. 1: John Curtis (LA) 38, Shades Valley (AL) 19

John Curtis dominated Shades Valley as the Patriots scored the first 31 points of the game and held the Mounties scoreless until 3:38 left in the third quarter.

Devon Benn led John Curtis with 75 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots also had two kickoffs returned for touchdowns in the third quarter as Darryan Washington opened the quarter with a 70-yard return and Marquese Albert added an 81-yard return with 3:25 left.

Junior linebacker Maison Gregory put up a great performance defensively for the Mounties as he had 13 tackles including one tackle for a loss.  Shades Valley quarterback Claude Newell threw for 141 yards and a touchdown after completing 18 of 32 passes.

Game No. 2: West Monroe (LA) 44, Lufkin (TX) 36

The big story out of this game was the season ending injury to West Monroe’s senior quarterback Jon Randall Belton. It is the third season in a row that Belton has suffered a season ending lower body injury. Luckily, the injury to their leader didn’t derail the Rebels from beating the Panthers Friday night at Independence Stadium.

Sophomore Slade Bolden stepped into the quarterback role and led West Monroe with 212 yards and two touchdowns. Fullback DeMichael Shelbon added 89 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries.

Lufkin quarterback Kordell Rodgers finished 20 of 38 for 234 yards and four touchdowns. Ja’Darrien Bennett caught three balls for 70 yards and a touchdown. Dalvin Smith was Lufkin’s leading rusher with 65 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Game No. 1 Parkway (LA) 47, Gladewater (TX) 27

Parkway scored 20 points in each of the first two quarters to hold a 40-6 lead at halftime.  The only points Gladewater scored in the first half was an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Darnell McKnight with 2:07 left in the first quarter.

Parkway Quarterback Keondre Wudtee, a Louisiana Tech commit, led the Panthers on offense as he threw for 243 and a touchdown after completing 13 of 22 passes. The offensive star of the game was Robert McKnight who rushed for 102 yards and three touchdowns and had 45 receiving yards and another touchdown.

Marcello Jackson led Gladewater on offense as he rushed for 173 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. Linebacker Bryston Oliver put on a great performance on defense as he had 12 total tackles and a sack.

Game No. 2 Evangel (LA) 21, Warren Easton (LA) 6

In a game that featured 31 combined penalties and 13 turnovers, Evangel’s Connor Curry and Corey Henderson led their team to a victory over Warren Easton. Evangel scored all their points in the second quarter while Warren Easton scored their lone touchdown on their opening drive in the third quarter.

Curry threw for 106 yards and two touchdowns while completing 8 of 15 passes. Henderson caught four balls for 54 yards and a touchdown.

Warren Easton’s quarterback Noah Berry completed 16 of 40 passes for 138 yards and rushed for a touchdown. Thomas Garner led the Warren Easton defensive effort with nine tackles including two tackles for a loss.

Game No. 3 Neville (LA) 59, Maumelle (AR) 0

Neville scored an incredible 39 points in the second quarter to blow open the lead. The Tiger’s defense locked down Maumelle and had a combined 3.5 sacks and 11 tackles for a loss including a safety.

Neville’s offense was led by junior Jaden Cole. Cole ran for 72 yards and two touchdowns on six carries, threw for 58 yards and one touchdown on 2 of 3 passing, and had caught one pass for 53 yards for a touchdown. Quarterback Christian Haynes completed 5 of 8 passes for 68 yards and two touchdowns.

Maumelle’s offense was led by running back Corey Jones who rushed for 53 yards on four carries and quarterback Connor McCullough who completed 4 of 13 passes for 76 yards. Antonio Jordan led the Hornet’s defense with ten total tackles and a sack.

Game No. 4 Byrd (LA) 22, Longview (TX) 15

The finale of the Battle on the Border event was between the C.E. Byrd Yellow Jackets and the Longview Lobos. In the best game of the weekend, Byrd used to their rushing attack to get past Longview’s air attack. As a team, the Yellow Jackets rushed for 349 yards and three touchdowns to get past the Lobos.

The score was 7-7 at halftime after Byrd scored on a five-yard run by Tysen Hardmen and Longview’s Jon Sorey caught a tipped pass from quarterback Michael Ross and sprinted 48 yards for the score.

Byrd took a 14-7 lead with 8:41 left in the third quarter after Trey Allen scored on a four-yard run. Michael Ross threw another touchdown to Jacorian Jones with 9:05 left in the fourth quarter and then converted a two-point conversion to take a 15-14 lead. With 5:53 left in the game, quarterback Deuce Caston led Byrd on a drive and scored on a keeper from one yard out to give the Yellow Jackets their final score.

Byrd running back Tysen Hardmen finished with 152 rushing yards while Trey Allen finished with 127 yards. Longview quarterback Michael Ross completed 9 of 17 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns.

Kobe Davis led Longview with 11 tackles including one for a loss while Noah Scruggs and Trent Touchet led Byrd with ten tackles each.

Photo credit: ktbs.com; Byrd players holding up their Battle on the Border trophy