The Benton Tigers couldn’t overcome an atrocious start in a 56-20 District 1-4A loss Friday night to the Northwood Falcons at Northwood Stadium.
Meanwhile, the Haynesville Tors proved to be too much for the Louisiana New Tech at Plain Dealing Lions, winning the District 1-1A battle 38-7 at Plain Dealing.
At Northwood, the Falcons scored on a 66-yard punt return and an 83-yard pass to take an early 12-0 lead. They extended it to 19-0 after recovering a fumble on the kickoff after their second TD.
Zach Pierson scored on a 51-yard run to briefly give the Tigers hope. But the the Falcons’ Jerrick Peterson tossed two more touchdown passes and Northwood led 32-7 after the first quarter.
Pierson added a couple of late touchdown runs for the final margin.
Benton (3-4) had a two-game winning streak stopped.
At Plain Dealing, the Lions trailed visiting Haynesville just 7-0 after the first quarter.
The Tors (4-2, 2-0) extended the lead to 25-0 at the half thanks to a touchdown with 20 seconds left.
“That stung the most,” said New Tech head coach Coy Brotherton, whose team fell to 5-2 and 1-1.
New Tech senior quarterback Deaumante Johnson started and played most of the game.
Johnson had played less than a quarter in the Lions’ previous two games because of a shoulder injury.
Brotherton said Johnson wasn’t able to run because of the injury, though.
Johnson did take a couple of hits and responded well.
“Maybe he’ll be able to run the ball more next week,” Brotherton said.
Even with Johnson at full strength, the Lions would have had trouble hanging with the Tors.
“We didn’t play terrible,” Brotherton said. “They’re good. They have a chance to make a deep run in the playoffs. They are a lot better than some people are giving them credit for.”
