By BRET H. MCCORMICK, Journal Sports
The historic wins keep coming for Alexandria Senior High.
Karsen Sellers threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers, including senior JT Lindsey, who added two rushing touchdowns as the Trojans outlasted No. 3 Ruston, 40-36, in a see-saw affair Friday night before a near-capacity crowd at J.L. “Butch” Stoker Stadium.
While the Trojan offense, which compiled 413 yards against the defending Division I Non-Select champion Bearcats, provided most of the firepower, the ASH defense stepped up with a key stop to secure the victory.
With Ruston down by four and needing to drive the length of the field in the final three minutes of the game, the Bearcats picked up four first downs, including two on fourth-down conversions, as they leaned on their sensational sophomore tight end Ahmad Hudson to take them into ASH territory.
Sophomore safety Jakyrin Griffin made a huge pass breakup, jarring a ball loose from Hudson with a big hit with less than a minute to play, and two plays later junior defensive end Grayson Thibodeaux forced Ruston quarterback Josh Brantley to scramble from the pocket on fourth-and-5 into the waiting arms of a host of Trojans who stopped him short of the first-down marker.
“I’m proud of the kids that they’re finding a way (to win) right now,” ASH coach Thomas Bachman said. “I think that’s very, very important that you get in these situations, you’re comfortable and everybody’s like, alright, let’s go find a way.”
ASH (8-0, 3-0) remained unbeaten and on a collision course with Neville for a Week-10 showdown of two potentially undefeated teams for the District 2-5A championship. Ruston (6-2, 1-2), meanwhile, dropped its second straight contest after seeing its 20-game winning streak snapped by Neville in Week 7.
The Trojans and Bearcats battled to a 14-all draw in the first half before their offenses heated up after halftime, combining for seven second-half touchdowns.
ASH opened up a two-score lead in the third quarter after a 43-yard touchdown pass from Sellers to senior Jimmie Duncan and a 4-yard TD run by Lindsey, who leaped over a Ruston defender into the end zone for a 27-14 Trojan lead.
But the Bearcats, as champions are known to do, responded by marching 80 yards for a scoring drive, capped by Brantley’s 26-yard pass to junior tight end Cullen Clark, and then capitalized on the Trojans’ only turnover of the night to take the lead.
Ruston star cornerback Aidan Anding, who missed most of the first half with an injury, made a diving interception off an ASH trick play gone wrong, and linebacker/fullback Zheric Hill powered into the end zone for a 2-yard score on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Sellers’ 29-yard TD pass to senior Darius Washington gave the Trojans a 33-28 lead, but Ruston answered back with senior Jordan Hayes’ third touchdown run of the game for a 36-33 lead.
Sellers, who completed 12 of 17 passes for a career-high 241 yards, tossed his fourth touchdown, this one a SportsCenter-esque grab by senior tight end Tanner Townsend, who caught the ball while lying on the ground after it bounced off his hands and a Bearcat defender’s back, for a 21-yard TD, setting the stage for the Trojan defense’s last-minute heroics.
“I just knew I was going to catch it,” Townsend said. “I turned around and I jumped up, and I have no idea if my gloves were wet or if (the defender) got a hand on it, but it just started bobbling. I looked down, and it’s just sitting in my lap. I was praying that that ref would give it to me, and he did.”
“We had been working on that play, and he beat (the defender),” Sellers said. “I threw it, and it was a little underthrown. It wasn’t the greatest throw, but it was a great job by Tanner to be able to hold onto that ball because that was a big touchdown in the game.”
Lindsey rushed 32 times for 136 yards and two TDs, while Washington led the Trojan receivers with five catches for 70 yards. Xzavier White led the ASH defense with 17 tackles.
Travis Adams rushed for three scores and Cace Malone added two rushing touchdowns as Tioga pulled away for a 52-28 victory over Peabody.
The Indians (3-5, 1-2 District 2-4A) led 14-0 at the half behind a rushing TD each from Malone and Adams, but Peabody (2-6, 0-3) tied it in the third quarter behind TD passes from Larry Roberts to TJ Hullaby and Tru Martin.
From that point, though, Tioga outscored the Warhorses 31-14. Roberts threw four touchdown passes, two each to Martin and Hullaby, while Tresean Fisher added a pick-six for the Indians.
Pineville’s Ayden Tate eclipsed the 1,000-yard yard for the season and scored a rushing touchdown while also throwing one to Kelmarion Phillips, but West Monroe compiled more than 500 yards of offense in a 41-13 victory.
Tate’s rushing and passing score both came in the first quarter as Pineville (3-5, 0-3 District 2-5A) trailed 14-13, but West Monroe added two scores in the second quarter and one each in the third and fourth to pull away for the victory.
Tyler Bowman scored with no time remaining and added a 2-point conversion to lift Northwood-Lena to a 34-32 victory over Lakeview.
Bowman scored two rushing touchdowns for the Gators (3-5, 1-2 District 3-1A), while AJ Butler added a rushing score and passing touchdowns to Jahari McCoy and Carmelo Sarver.
Buckeye (5-3, 2-1 District 2-3A) remained unbeaten at home this season with a 27-20 victory over Caldwell, while Menard (3-5, 1-2 District 5-2A) lost 46-7 at Kinder.
Bolton Academy dropped to 0-8 on the season with a 56-o loss at Avoyelles on Thursday.