By LORI LYONS, Journal Sports
Buckeye head football coach Aaron York had to check to make sure it wasn’t a typo.
As he looked to see how his opponent this week, Grant High School, fared in Week 1 action, York must have done a double-take. The Cougars, a Class 4A team, defeated Montgomery by 76-50 and had a player who threatened national high school records.
Running back Aymaud Sykes rushed for 420 yards on 26 carries and scored 10 touchdowns (original reports said 11) to help his team to a come-from-behind win. According to the National Federation of High Schools, that puts Sykes in a tie for fourth most touchdowns in a single high school game.
Now it’s up to York and his Class 3A Panthers to try and stop him tonight in Dry Prong.
“We’ve got 100 yards long and 54 1/3 wide to try and contain him,” York said, adding his defense has seen enough of him. “No. I don’t want to see him run.”
Last week Buckeye took a 45-0 win over Block (the score was originally reported in some outlets as a Block victory).
“The first game of the year you really don’t know what to expect,” York said. “You just want your kids to play well. I thought we played well enough to win but with a lot of things to clean up. That’s the goal this week. We want to see how our kids respond after the first week playing a real game and see if we can get better from last week.”
Pineville is looking for its second win following a surprising 44-34 victory at New Iberia. It was coach Justin Charles’ first win as new coach of the Rebels. This week the Rebels host Avoyelles, which lost last week to Marksville 47-14. Pineville won last year’s matchup 35-20.
After battling defending Division III Non-Select state champion Sterlington very competitively before fading in a 47-31 loss last week, Tioga gets no rest this week. The Indians will have the homefield advantage against last year’s Division II Select state semifinalist Leesville Friday. The Wampus Cats were spanked in their season opener by Sam Houston, 50-28.
Tioga wide receiver Kevin Johnson was named Player of the Week by one local media outlet after nabbing seven receptions for 214 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
In other action, Alexandria Senior High will look to go 2-0 against visiting Union Parish. Quarterback Karsen Sellers threw four touchdown passes in the Trojans’ 54-7 win over West Feliciana last week. Union Parish lost to North DeSoto, 46-3.
Holy Savior Menard, 1-0 following last week’s 42-0 win at Northwood-Lena, will host always formidable Class 3A Jena. The Giants had a wild 64-48 victory at Mangham to open the season.
Northwood-Lena will travel to Elton in a matchup of Class A teams. The Indians lost to St. Edmund 58-28 last week.
Peabody will visit the other Northwood – of Shreveport – on Friday. The Warhorses opened with a 33-10 win over LaGrange while Class 4A Northwood defeated Benton, 49-16.
Bolton Academy, which lost to Mamou, 62-6 last week, will go to Oberlin, which fell to Vinton last Friday 36-6.