By Gray Haynes
This week, the North Webster Knights hosted the Bossier Bearkats on Thursday. According to the coaching staff, this is the first Thursday night game in the history of Baucum-Farrar Stadium. Due to a shortage of officials, many teams are asked to play on Thursday so that game officials can be sent to each game. Another oddity to this game is that both schools were out of school for Fall Break the week of the game. The Knights came onto the field wearing pink socks and arm bands to recognize the fight against breast cancer. Many of the fans also wore pink shirts or hats.
The Knights won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball to start the game. The first possession was derailed by a holding call on first down which put the Knights behind the sticks. After North Webster punted the ball to Bossier, the Knights’ defense was stifling. The unit allowed one yard on three plays. Bossier was forced to punt the ball back to the home team. The Knights, wearing their new purple pants and jerseys, mounted a nice drive. After matriculating the ball to the Bossier 30 yard line, two holding penalties and a sack forced the Knights to punt on 4th and 33. Bossier’s second possession was much like their first. The Knights’ defense allowed 0 yards on three plays and forced another punt. North Webster took over near midfield after the short punt, and they went on a 13 play drive to score the first touchdown of the night. The Knights’ middle linebacker, Jeremiah Washington, was playing double duty on this night due to injuries in the Knights’ offensive backfield. In addition to his duties on defense, Washington scored the first touchdown of the night on a 3 yard run into the north end zone in the opening minutes of the 2nd period. The PAT was no good, so the score was 6-0 early in the 2nd period. That touchdown would prove to be all the scoring the Knights would need on this night, but they were not done scoring yet.
After a nice kickoff return, Bossier began their next drive near midfield. The stingy Knights’ defense allowed 0 yards on the first two plays. On third down, Bossier lofted a pass downfield against tight coverage. The receiver grabbed the pass for a gain of 40 yards down the left sideline. The Bearkats faced a first and goal from the 7 yard line. After four plays, with two timeouts mixed in, Bossier had gained 0 yards and turned the ball over on downs with 3:15 left in the half. The Knights played it very conservatively in the shadow of their own goal post and punted the ball back to Bossier with 52 ticks left on the clock. Bossier was content to run the ball twice and take the game to halftime down 6-0.
Bossier received the opening kickoff of the second half. After a nice kickoff return took the ball out to midfield, it looked like Bossier had something going to start the second half. They picked up 7 yards on first down. Then an illegal chop block, a sack, and more tough defense by the Knights, the Bearkats faced a 4th and 40 from their own 20 yard line. The two teams traded punts, and Bossier started their second possession of the 2nd half on their own 15 yard line. On their first down play, Bossier fumbled. JaKayden Jackson scooped the ball up for the Knights and scampered 15 yards to the endzone. The two point conversion by Washington made the score 14-0 with 7:52 left in the 3rd period.
Another good kickoff return by the Bearkats gave them possession at midfield. On first down, the Knights’ defense stopped the running back behind the line of scrimmage for a one yard loss. On second down, Bossier tried to throw a hitch route at the North Webster 45 yard line. Jardin Gill read the route and stepped in front of the receiver. 55 yards later, he crossed the goal line for a touchdown. Washington, again, converted the two point conversion to give the Knights a 22-0 lead with 6:51 left in the third quarter. For the rest of the game, the Knights burned the clock by keeping the ball on the ground since their 1st and 2nd string running backs were injured. The Knights leaned on their defense to keep the shutout and give the home team the win. The final score would be 22-0 in favor of North Webster. Next week, the Knights travel to Bastrop to battle the Rams in another district 1-3A contest.
