By DWAIN SPILLMAN JR, Natchitoches Parish Journal
The fight returned to Turpin Stadium Friday night for the Natchitoches Central Chiefs.
After an emotional disappointment against Alexandria Senior High a week ago, NCHS returned to home turf Friday night and fought back.
The Chiefs, under first-year head coach Jess Curtis, thumped Southwood of Shreveport, 41-12, in front of a Homecoming crowd numbering more fans in that had been gathered for an NCHS home game in quite some time.
The victory moved Natchitoches Central to 2-2 overall and, more importantly, kicked off the District 1-5A campaign at 1-0, granting Curtis’ first conference win as the Chiefs’ boss. The Cowboys dropped their fourth straight loss in the saddle to open the season at 0-4.
“I am just proud of our kids,” a jubilant Curtis said after the old-west style battle. “I really want to brag on everybody. They are starting to get it. They are starting to understand our scheme and what we are giving them.
“We gave up some big plays. We are going to find guys that are going to fly around to the ball. When you buy into that it works really well. Tonight was a good step. They are starting to understand what we expect and what we want from them and I am just so proud of our effort.
“It’s when we get punched in the mouth is when we have to move forward. When we finally come to that realization, we are going to be hard to beat.”
NCHS came out of the locker room with that motivation.
The Chiefs began lighting up the scoreboard early as sophomore quarterback Owen Smith found Dillion Braxton for a 16-yard scoring play early at the 10:04 mark of the first period. Braxton made an over-the-back-shoulder catch with the defender fully draped on his maroon and white uniform and brought the crowd to its feet. The PAT gained NCHS a quick 7-0 lead.
The visitors turned the ball over on downs, and the Chiefs struck again. Smith found Camrin Davis on a 9-yard aerial to move the advantage to 14-0.
After a barrage of penalties and miscues from both sides, the Cowboys found paydirt with 8:44 left in the second quarter to close the gap to 14-6. The Chiefs tacked on two additional scoring plays via the rush to enlarge their advantage to 28-6 at the half. Braxton raced in from 25 yards out midway through the second period behind superior downfield blocking. Senior running back Zion Thompson went off tackle and picked up key blocks as well, racing 46 yards to paydirt.
The 28-6 halftime lead could have been greater but the Chiefs suffered 77 yards in penalties during the first two frames while amassing 224 yards in total offense.
Thompson bolted through a giant hole, provided by the offensive line, from 11 yards out late in the third quarter to move the margin to 35-6. Davis scored from 12 yards out on a shuffle pass early in the fourth to move the mark to 41-6. Southwood added a late touchdown to finish the scoring.
A host of Chief defenders, to include but not limited to seniors Braden Woods and Landon Brossett, brought praise from the coaching staff and kept the crowd constantly to its feet in the second half with huge plays in critical situations turning the Cowboys away from the prized goal line.
The Chiefs rebounded in the second half, though adding just 13 more points to the scoreboard offensively. The defense remained strong. Constant questionable calls by the officiating crew gave the home crew yet a second challenge, besides the opponent, on the night.
“It really tested us tonight to see if we could battle and deal with adversity,” Curtis continued. “I thought we played a really good game defensively. We gave up a long drive at the end. It’s about finishing a game. We are still learning lessons but what I like tonight was about how we played.
“I told them (postgame) if we can execute when we are down, then that’s what really good teams do. We really started learning that tonight and when we fully accomplish that, then we are going to start climbing that ladder, and we are going to be hard to beat.”
Throwing four touchdown passes, Smith went 16 of 19 for 221 yards while Thompson led the ground attack behind the improving offensive line with 13 totes for 130 yards.
Davis added yet another impressive night receiving hauling in eight catches for 144 yards and three TDs. Placekicker Mateo Restrepo converted 5 of 6 PATs.
The Chiefs will return to action next Friday night at Turpin, hosting defending district champion Airline. The game was originally slated for Thursday but has now been moved to Friday.
