Louisiana High School Football Week Five Preview
Written by Charlie Beuttel
North DeSoto Griffins @ Benton Tigers
The preseason district favorites meet to decide who will be the frontrunner the rest of the season. The Griffins are 4-0 while Benton is 3-1. In 2014, Benton won at North DeSoto 7-0 so this year North DeSoto will be looking for revenge.
North DeSoto is led on offense by quarterback Kyler Radford who had 138 rushing yards and 87 passing yards last week against Bossier. The leader of the Griffins defense is senior linebacker Justin Gaskins who has 40 total tackles through the first four games of the season.
Benton is averaging 41 points a game led by sophomore quarterback Garrett Hable. Hable has thrown for 997 yards and 11 touchdowns through the first four games. The Tigers two biggest weapons are wide receivers Clayton Festavan and John Westmoreland. Festavan leads with 322 receiving yards while Westmoreland has six receiving touchdowns.
C.E. Byrd Yellow Jackets @ Parkway Panthers
Byrd is undefeated so far in 2015 while Parkway is 3-1 after suffering a defeat at Evangel last week, 56-21. The home teams have won this rivalry game over the past couple years so Parkway will have the edge seeking to get back on the winning track.
The Yellow Jackets are scoring over 40 points a games by using their rushing attack led by quarterback Deuce Caston and running backs Tray Allen and Tysen Hardman. Byrd’s defense is only giving up 15.75 points per game and are up to the challenge of Parkway’s high-scoring offense.
The Panthers are also scoring 40 points a game but they use an explosive passing attack to manufacture their points. Senior quarterback Keondre Wudtee has thrown for 912 yards and seven touchdowns engineering the attack. Parkway’s two biggest offensive weapons are running back Robert McKnight and wide receiver CJ Morgan. McKnight has 409 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
Other Louisiana High School Football Games
Airline @ Captain Shreve
Northwood @ Fair Park
Franklin Parish @ Natchitoches Central
LaGrange @ Evangel
Haughton @ Southwood
Ruston @ Wossman
Woodlawn @ Bossier
Huntington @ Minden
Red River @ Green Oaks
Sterlington @ Loyola
Booker T. Washington @ Madison
North Caddo @ North Webster
Calvary Baptist @ Union Parish
Haynesville @ Plain Dealing
Brother Martin @ St. Augustine
Shaw @ Archbishop Rummel
Ridgeway (TN) @ West Monroe
Photo credit: The Bossier Press Tribune; Benton QB Garrett Hable