By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
PINEVILLE – Alexandria Senior High showcased an explosive rushing attack and a suffocating defense as the Trojans defeated District 2-5A rival Pineville 31-0 at the Pineville Jamboree last Friday night.
Junior tailback J.T. Lindsey compiled a game-high 108 rushing yards on 12 carries, including a 51-yard touchdown on his third touch of the contest, as the Trojans scored on their first four possessions to race to a 24-0 lead in the first of two 15-minute halves under the lights at D.C. “Bill” Bates Stadium.
Senior receiver Jaylin Johnson scored on a 67-yard end-around to put the Trojans ahead 14-0, the first of two big plays for Johnson, who also had a 45-yard reception on ASH’s fourth possession to set up a 21-yard field goal by senior Bodie Van Dyke.
Senior quarterback Ty Feaster, who connected with Johnson on the deep ball inside the Pineville 5-yard line, also broke free for a 28-yard touchdown run on the Trojans’ third possession to give them a 21-0 lead.
Feaster, who went 2-for-5 passing for 48 yards, played almost all of the first half at quarterback before giving way to fellow senior Amyrion Mingo, who went 3-for-6 passing for 18 yards and scored ASH’s lone second-half touchdown on a 5-yard keeper with just over 2 minutes remaining.
The Trojans were dominant in the running game, averaging more than 12 yards per carry and finishing with 228 rushing yards.
ASH coach Thomas Bachman said he was proud of the end result for his team, but he felt the Trojans coasted to the win in the second half instead of finishing the game strong.
“Play to our standard. Let’s get better this second half. Don’t look at the scoreboard,” Bachman said of what he preached to his team. “That’s easy to say. Now we’ve got to learn how to do it.”
Pineville rushed for 111 yards on 35 carries in the game and was led by the power running of senior fullback Sebastian Molette, who churned up 45 rushing yards on 15 carries in the game.
The Rebels went three-and-out on their first three possessions and picked up just one first down in the first half, but they controlled the clock more successfully in the second half even if they were unable to find the end zone.
Pineville coach Bryant Bell said it was difficult for the Rebels to stay patient after getting behind so quickly, but he liked what he saw in the second half as his team refused to quit.
“We wanted a closer game. We wanted to keep it closer,” Bell said. “But three years ago we would have quit pretty early in the first two or three minutes of the game. Our kids hung in there. We fought. I challenged them at halftime to win the second half, which I think we lost by a touchdown the second half, but we fought to the end of the game.”
In other action at the Pineville Jamboree, junior Jimmie Duncan scored four touchdowns to lead the Trojans’ junior-varsity team to a dominating 42-8 victory while the ASH freshmen team rallied from behind to pull out a 22-18 win over the Rebel freshmen.
The freshmen game featured three kickoff-return TDs, including one each by Pineville’s Kelmarion Phillips and Jyren Pearson and one by ASH’s Jaytun Terry. Phillips also had a 62-yard rushing TD as the Rebels took a 12-0 lead, but ASH fought back to take a 16-12 lead with 4:28 to play on Max Gassiott’s 11-yard TD pass to Alex Fontenot.
The Rebels retook the lead on Pearson’s kickoff return on the next play, but ASH answered with a game-winning drive that ended when Tristan Brooks took a short pass from Karsen Sellers and raced 60 yards down the sideline for a score.
Tioga Jamboree
Ja’Corian Norris returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown and caught a 41-yard pass to set up Tioga’s second touchdown, but the Indians lost a hard-fought battle to Class 4A power Westgate 20-13 Friday night in the second game of the Tioga Jamboree.
Leesville defeated Grant 13-0 in the first game of the night at The Reservation.
Norris was all over the field Friday night, forcing a fumble at the goal line to keep the Tigers out of the end zone on their first drive and making several explosive tackles in addition to being the Indians’ leading receiver with three catches for 47 yards.
Tioga sophomore quarterback Cace Malone completed 6 of 8 passes for 68 yards, including a 5-yard TD to Joshua Loyd late in the second half.
The Indians compiled 145 yards of offense in the jamboree, including 43 rushing yards on eight carries by senior Corbin Zeto, but they couldn’t get enough stops of Westgate junior quarterback Jaboree Antoine, who passed for two TDs and ran for another to lead the Tigers to victory.
Buckeye Jamboree
Senior Cooper Scott scored two rushing touchdowns and Ryan Hicks booted two field goals to lead Menard to a 26-7 victory over Buckeye on Friday.
Scott’s two TDs were aided by a third rushing touchdown by senior Carter Marcantel, while sophomore Aidyn Moran was the Eagles’ workhorse on the ground with over 100 rushing yards.
Defensively, the Eagles forced three three-and-outs and also made two red-zone stands after the Panthers put together solid drives. Buckeye’s lone touchdown came on their final drive on a short run by junior Jim Burlew.
“They did get to the red zone a couple of times, but we were able to overcome that and stop them on downs,” Menard coach David Perkins said. “That’s big. That’s been a point of emphasis for our team since I took over.”
Buckeye coach Ben McLaughlin said despite the final score he was pleased with the way his team played and believes Friday night prepared the Panthers for the start of the season.
“We really finished strong,” McLaughlin said. “I was proud of our kids. We were playing at the pace we want to play. I felt like we got stronger as we went on.”
Bolton Jamboree
Peabody got two explosive touchdowns, including a 58-yard punt return by TJ Hullaby that opened the scoring, in a 36-0 victory over Bolton Friday night.
Hullaby also caught a touchdown pass from Larry Roberts Jr. and had a second TD reception wiped out by penalty as the Warhorses dominated their former district and cross-city rival.
Roberts also connected with Malachi Goodley on a passing touchdown, and Peabody got rushing TDs from David Newton and Malik Lewis, who broke free for a 60-yard score.