By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
The Alexandria Senior High Trojans had waited for this day for months.
And they certainly didn’t disappoint.
After having their home debut delayed by a week due to installation issues, the Trojans dedicated their new turf field at Butch Stoker Stadium in emphatic fashion last Friday night with a dominating 56-14 victory over Natchitoches Central.
The Trojans led 15-0 just 76 seconds into the game, 22-0 halfway through the first quarter and 49-0 at halftime. Junior running back J.T. Lindsey eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the second straight game and scored four touchdowns, while senior quarterback Ty Feaster passed for 232 yards and three touchdowns to lead ASH to its first victory of the season.
Feaster went 3-for-3 on the Trojans’ first drive for 72 yards. He was credited with an 18-yard touchdown pass when he flipped the ball to Amyrion Mingo, who lateraled to Darius Washington on a reverse for the game’s first score.
After recovering an onside kick, Lindsey showed off his sprinter’s speed by taking his first carry of the game 47 yards into the end zone. The clock read 10:44 in the first quarter, the Trojans led 15-0 and the offensive onslaught was just beginning.
The Trojans hit a couple of big plays in the passing game as Feaster found EJ Scott for a 60-yard touchdown on a slant route and Mingo took a screen pass 62 yards for a score, and they also finished several methodical drives with Lindsey touchdown runs of 2, 1 and 3 yards.
Lindsey rushed for a game-high 126 yards on 15 carries and increased his season touchdown total to seven (six rushing and one receiving) as the Trojans finished with 521 yards of total offense while limiting NCHS to just 133 yards.
After finding some production the past two years as the Trojans’ primary backup running back, Lindsey has thrived as the starter this year, averaging over 100 yards per game through three weeks.
“He has worked his butt off behind the scenes – in the weight room, on the track, in the offseason, on the practice field when it’s good-on-good reps,” ASH coach Thomas Bachman said. “I expect to see a whole lot more of it as we continue this thing over the next two years with him.”
Lindsey said he’s glad all of his hard work paid off on Friday night.
“We worked for it a lot,” he said. “Coming from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we worked a whole lot. Friday, you see the results. It feels great. We worked for it. We earned it.”
After suffering lopsided losses to Carencro and St. Thomas More to open the season, Bachman held a lengthy meeting with his players on Monday and challenged them throughout the week to raise their level of play.
The Trojans responded in emphatic fashion.
“I certainly think that it carried over,” Bachman said. “A meeting, a speech, all that only carries weight when you put in the work and you’ve been through difficult times. You can create that energy, that passion, because of what you’ve invested into it.
“While Monday was important, it was what they followed it with when it came time to practice, when it came time to lift, that ultimate accountability, and the kids really, really responded to that.”
NCHS coach Jess Curtis said the Trojans jumped on his team early and never let up. While he liked how the Chiefs finished the game, he doesn’t believe the way they played in the first half is indicative of his team’s ability.
“This is a good ASH team, and they’re well-coached,” Curtis said. “Thomas does a great job, but we’re much better than we played tonight.”
While the Trojans got in the win column for the first time on Friday, it wasn’t as good of a night for several other parish teams.
Peabody dropped its first game of the season, falling on the road against Class A power Logansport 34-6. Menard fell to 1-2 on the season with a 26-13 home loss to St. Mary’s in the “Bishop Bowl.”
“They are well-coached,” Peabody coach Harry Coleman said of Logansport. “I can’t lie. I’m disappointed, but we are moving on to next week. We will correct all the mistakes and keep working.”
Drake Aldredge scored a 1-yard rushing TD and Matt Kirk caught a 5-yard scoring reception for Menard, but the Eagles’ offense sputtered much of the night with just 170 yards against the Tigers (3-0).
Two second-half interceptions returned for touchdowns – a 50-yarder by Ethan Busby and a 21-yarder by Ben Bienvenu – broke open a game that St. Mary’s led by just five points at halftime.
Senior Mixon Bankston scored a 1-yard touchdown and also threw a 26-yard touchdown to Busby as the Tigers’ high-powered offense was limited to 261 yards by a stout Menard defense.
Bolton and Northwood-Lena both lost their third consecutive game with the Bears losing 62-0 at North Caddo and the Gators falling 58-12 at Lakeview.
Amarion Pierre and Kaleb Collins combined for 551 rushing yards and seven TDs for Andy Boone-coached Lakeview, which raced out to a 30-0 lead before Northwood got on the board. The Gators got two rushing TDs from freshman Tyler Bowman and compiled 247 yards of offense in the loss.
