NationalHSFootball.com
For the second straight year Byrd (Shreveport, LA) flexed its muscles and bullied Calvary Baptist (Shreveport, LA), leaving no doubt which team was the best team in the city.
Thursday evening the Yellow Jackets improved to 3-0 after grinding out a 42-13 victory over what was a HSFB100-ranked Calvary Baptist squad.
Quarterback Shea Patterson struggled to stay upright versus Byrd.
Byrd held off Zachary (LA) to open the season and then cruised to victory over El Dorado (AR) with a combined 65-28 advantage.
Many expected a more competitive battle between the two but it never materialized.
Calvary scored the games opening touchdown but it was Byrd that found the endzone the next five times — including a kickoff return in the second half that took the game from a manageable 28-7 deficit to what felt like a coffin closing at 35-7.
Byrd took advantage of a size and depth advantage in the trenches as it rushed for 385 yards — and didn’t get called for a single holding penalty — as Calvary was not able to get off its blocks and make a tackle.
Offensively Calvary Baptist was never able to get into a rhythm as Byrd lived in the backfield as the advantage on the lines went the way of Byrd on both sides of the ball.
Class of 2016 quarterback prospect Shea Patterson threw an interception for the first time in over a year — a span of over 300 passes, 41 touchdowns, and 3000 yards. His last interception was against Byrd in 2013.
The team played without its starting running back in the second half with an undisclosed injury although his effectiveness was limited with the less-than-stellar play of the offensive line.
The game was moved from Calvary Baptist to Byrd as the Cavaliers sold the rights to the contest for a more difficult environment as it prepares to make a run to another state title.
The loss will most certainly push the Cavaliers out of the HSFB100 rankings come Monday. It will play West Monroe (LA) on Oct. 3 as its last true test before a run to a state title.
Byrd will move onto the fringe of the national rankings but likely land outside of the HSFB100 until the playoffs begin in Louisiana.
No. 13 DeSoto survives test from No. 77 Steele, 29-24
Tip the cap to the DeSoto (TX) defense.
The Eagles offense was held scoreless by Steele (Cibolo, TX) in the second half of its Thursday night contest but its defense bowed up and made enough plays to preserve the victory, 29-24.
Head coach Claude Mathis told the Dallas Morning News that the game was exactly what his team needed.
“We wanted to be tested,” Mathis said. “That’s why we scheduled Steele; that’s a darn good ball club. We needed this before we headed into district play… That was a measuring stick for us right there.”
The difference in the defense was the return of interior lineman Bryce English.
English is a 5-foot-11, 295-pound defensive tackle committed to UCLA. He had missed the last two DeSoto victories with a concussion but returned to play against Steele.
His impact was felt in the second half as Steele tried to pound the ball through the middle of the defense on consecutive tries from the 1-yard line. English collapsed the line and stopped the drive each time.
On the final drive, English and the defensive line put pressure on Steele quarterback L. G. Williams on most every play and despite Steele moving the ball from its goal-line to the DeSoto 16-yard line with just 22 second remaining the pressure was too much as a third and fourth down pass fell harmlessly incomplete as DeSoto captured the victory.
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