Zachary coach David Brewerton isn’t letting his team make any excuses for Friday night.
The Broncos’ 19-13 loss to West Feliciana in the Complete Collision Jamboree wasn’t due to Zachary over-celebrating its 5A state championship from last season or because it lost several weeks of practice after the recent flooding that hit the area.
Zachary lost because it didn’t play good football as the young team struggled under the big lights.
“We’re not defending a title,” Brewerton said. “This team right here hasn’t won anything, and if we continue to play like that, we won’t. We know we’re very young in some key spots, and we played like it tonight. The lights were bright and the game was fast, and we didn’t adjust to that.”
Zachary came out looking strong on both sides of the ball, taking a 6-0 lead in the first half of the shortened game as new starting quarterback Alex Milazzo found receiver Chandler Whitfield in the corner of the end zone.
West Feliciana struggled for large portions, but the Saints managed to turn a few of their mistakes into momentum swinging plays.
Quarterback Derek Turner turned a broken play on a second-and-35 into a 76-yard pass to Davon Harris, which started the Saints’ run of 19 unanswered points.
Later in the game, junior Derius Davis misplayed a punt but picked it up off the bounce before running it almost 70 yards for the score.
“That’s the sign of a team that’s fighting,” West Feliciana coach Robb Odom said. “We put the ball on the ground five times and to overcome that, especially against a great, quality, well-coached team, that’s big.”
Walker 33, Dunham 14: Walker may not have started out its best football, but when the Wildcats pulled it together, they did so in highlight fashion.
After opening the game by fumbling a punt return on its first possession, Walker bounced back to defeat Dunham behind four touchdowns of 30 yards or more.
Walker quarterback Jacobi Scott and receiver Jalen Hills only connected once, but they made it count for a 62-yard touchdown on the first play of the second half to launch Walker into a lead it would never relinquish.
But the highlight of Hills’ night came two minutes later, when he took a handoff 37 yards for the score.
Hills was almost swallowed up in the backfield as soon as he touched the ball, but he broke three tackles and swatted away another once he broke into the open field.
“It was great,” Hills said of his first score. “It was a confidence-booster coming right out of half time. We got it done.”
Dunham closed the gap slightly just before the end of the game when quarterback Mike Williams bulldozed his way into the end zone from three yards out.
He finished with 161 yards and a touchdown on 10-of-19 passing.
“Not having a week of practice, losing a scrimmage, all that stuff — that’s about what I expected in the second half,” Dunham coach Neil Weiner said. “Now, I don’t like giving up long touchdowns, but our kids played hard and they just wore down against a deeper team.”