Last year, the Louisiana New Tech at Plain Dealing Lions lost to the Cedar Creek Cougars 61-20.
Friday night’s non-district game in Ruston between the two teams was a far cry from that.
The Lions gave the sixth-ranked Cougars everything they wanted before falling 33-20. The score was tied at 14 at the half.
“We probably should’ve won the game,” New Tech coach Coy Brotherton said.
The Lions had two long touchdown passes called back in the second half.
New Tech fell to 5-3 overall. According to kenramsey.com, the Lions have a power rating of No. 31 in Class 1A, so they need to win their next two against Grambling and Ringgold, teams with a combined three wins.
Brotherton said the Lions can take a lot of positives out of the Cedar Creek game.
“That’s what I told the kids,” he said. “It hurts a little bit to lose, but we just played the No. 6 team in the state and felt like we should’ve beaten them.”
New Tech’s Cardarrious Ray scored TDs on runs of 16 and 3 yards. Deaumante Johnson completed 10 of 16 passes for 221 yards, including a 46-yard TD to Deandre Coleman. Johnson was also able to run for the first time since injuring his shoulder in Week 5. He gained 71 yards on 11 carries.
