By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
Jim Burlew continued to carry the load for Buckeye Friday night, but even his special performance couldn’t dig the Panthers out of a 32-point halftime deficit.
Burlew carried the football 50 times for 211 yards and scored three touchdowns, but Buckeye couldn’t slow down the Cougars in a 59-34 loss at Grant.
Grant senior quarterback Jackson Hedrick rushed for four touchdowns and threw for a fifth as he compiled over 200 yards of offense (140 rushing, 72 passing). D’Michael Perry rushed for 123 yards, including a 74-yard touchdown, as the Cougars (3-2) scored seven times on the ground.
Perry’s touchdown gave the Cougars a 25-0 lead in the second quarter after Hedrick rushed and passed for a first-quarter touchdown. Hedrick’s second rushing TD put Grant ahead 32-0 before the Panthers (3-2) finally got on the board on a Burlew 5-yard run.
“If you dig yourself a (32-0) hole, it doesn’t really matter what you do,” Buckeye coach Ben McLaughlin said.
Hedrick’s third rushing TD, a 69-yard run, gave Grant a 39-7 lead at the half, and the Cougars pushed that lead to 45-7 in the third quarter on another Hedrick rushing score.
Adam Brodnax, who passed for 250 yards in the game, threw his lone touchdown pass in the third quarter to Bryce Warthen, who caught five passes for 163 yards. Burlew added two more rushing TDs in the fourth quarter, and Buckeye also got a 6-yard rushing score from Kolt Vercher.
Grant rushed for nearly 400 yards in the game and also got rushing TDs by freshmen Keith McKinney and Aymaud Sykes.
McLaughlin said the Panthers simply couldn’t get enough stops against the Grant offense after some poor early execution put them behind. However, he added, he was proud of the Panthers’ effort.
“When Buckeye and Grant play – I don’t care if they’re playing marbles – when these two teams play any competitive sport, both sides are ready to go,” McLaughlin said.
Burlew is averaging over 180 yards per game and has scored 15 rushing touchdowns this season.
JENA 28, TIOGA 6
Zerrick Jones ran for two touchdowns and Zach Barker passed for two more – one each to Zy Hunter and Braden Oakes – to lead Jena (5-0) to a victory in a battle of two unbeaten teams.
A defensive battle flipped in a matter of seconds late in the first half as Jena scored two touchdowns to break open a tie game.
Jones, the Giants’ senior tailback, took an option pitch from Barker, raced down the left sideline, ran through a shoulder tackle, and finished off a 58-yard touchdown run to take a 14-6 lead.
After a Tioga fumble on its next offensive play, Jones scored his second touchdown as he outran the Indian defense to the pylon for a 10-yard score and a 20-6 lead at the half.
Jones, who rushed for more than 100 yards in the first half, finished with a game-high 147 rushing yards on 20 carries.
Tioga’s only touchdown came on a 73-yard interception return by Ja’Corian Norris, who had two kick return touchdowns wiped off because of penalties.
Travis Adams led the Indians (4-1) with 57 rushing yards, while Cace Malone finished 9-of-19 passing for 78 yards.
OPELOUSAS CATHOLIC 35, MENARD 3
A Ryan Hicks 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter kept the Eagles (2-3) from being shut out as they struggled to muster any offense Friday night.
The Vikings (2-3) held Menard to just 3 rushing yards and 29 yards of total offense as the Eagles gained more yardage off Opelousas Catholic penalties than they did on offense.
Cooper Scott forced a fumble late in the third quarter, and Asher Davis pounced on it to set the Eagles up with good field position and lead to the Hicks field goal.
The Eagles had just three first downs in the first half, two of which came via penalty, and compiled only 4 yards of offense as they trailed 21-0 at the break.
Senior quarterback Mark Collins passed for two touchdowns to Rod Tezeno and ran for two more scores, while Rowan Rergeron also had a touchdown run for Opelousas Catholic.
NORTHWOOD-LENA 38, NORTH CENTRAL 6
The Gators (1-4) went on the road and brought home a convincing win to snap a four-game losing streak to start the season.
Northwood was close last week, dropping its Homecoming contest by one point, but the Gators left no doubt against North Central. Coach Tommy Moore said he did not have any individual stats but praised his entire team for its performance.
“Great team win,” he said. “Our players competed for four quarters and limited our turnovers. I’m very proud of our defense for keeping their athletes bottled up and playing physical football. Special teams did a great job as well. Hopefully, this will give us some confidence starting district play.”
BLOCK 42, BOLTON 36
Senior running back Darrian Nelson returned for the first time since suffering a preseason ankle injury and provided an immediate spark to the Bolton offense.
Nelson rushed for more than 80 yards and scored two touchdowns, while senior quarterback Connor McLain also added two rushing touchdowns as the Bears (0-5) scored more than six points in a game for the first time all season.
Bolton led 36-30 in the fourth quarter and looked poised to pick up its first victory of the season, but Block scored two late touchdowns to pull out the win.
Sophomore Tyler August also scored a rushing touchdown for Bolton.