By MATT VINES, Journal Sports
When Parkway quarterback Kaleb Williams was injured on the third play of Friday’s game, the Panthers could have panicked.
But Parkway leaned on its rushing attack, and on an offensive line that pushed around the Natchitoches Central defensive front.
The Panthers rushed for 437 yards and scored the game’s first 26 points en route to a 40-12 victory in Turpin Stadium over NCHS (1-3, 0-3 District 1-5A).
“The biggest thing to me is when you look at how productive each team was on the ground,” said NCHS coach Brad Laird. “They averaged 9.9 yards per carry, and we averaged 1.6 yards.
“Some people may look at the totals and how many times you run it, but what you do when you do run it is more important to me.”
Parkway (4-0, 2-0) scored three first-quarter touchdowns on drives of 71, 81, and 86 yards.
Three different ball carriers reached the end zone in the first quarter as CJ Dudley (3-yard run), Camaro Mayo (66-yard run), and Antonio Gladney (14-yard run) gave Parkway a 19-0 lead.
The Panthers tacked on one more score when Jayden Lewis scored from five yards.
All four of those players rushed for at least 50 yards with Mayo (177 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries) leading the way. Dudley crossed the century mark (18-135) with Gladney (7-78) and Lewis (7-59) contributing significantly with each adding a touchdown.
“We were able to establish the run and had some chunk plays.” said Parkway coach Coy Brotherton. “Our defense made stop after stop.”
The Natchitoches Central defense has allowed at least 40 points in all three District 1-5A games after slowing Breaux Bridge in a 14-12 season-opening win.
The Chiefs’ offense wasn’t able to establish the run (netting 42 yards on 26 carries).
But quarterback Owen Smith and the passing game still had a measure of success.
He completed 20-of-34 passes for 186 yards with a pair of touchdowns.
His first scoring strike went to KJ Newton for 35 yards in the second quarter, and he found Dillon Braxton for a 12-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.
Trailing 26-6, Natchitoches Central was piecing together a drive early in the third quarter that had the potential to slice Parkway’s lead to two scores.
But the Panthers’ Mark Copenhaver intercepted Smith and returned it for a touchdown to stamp out any hope of a comeback.
Smith threw a season-high three interceptions on a night when he shouldered almost all of the offensive load.
He did successfully distribute the ball to a bevy of targets as seven different Chiefs caught a pass with six hauling in multiple passes.
Kelton Howard led the way with seven receptions for 55 yards while Newton (43 yards) and Derrian Anthony (27 yards) each had three catches. Braxton caught two passes for 25 yards.
“It’s good to see guys other than Dillon step up,” Laird said. “Dillon was the really the only one with experience coming into this season, and we’re still trying to find as many different ways to get him the ball.
“When he gets the ball in his hands, he does really good things. But having other guys step up and makes will help us going forward.”
An overwhelming district schedule turns the page to a visit with Haughton next as opportunity knocks for two struggling young teams.
The Bucs (1-3, 0-3) have also been challenged offensively and defensively in district play. They have been beaten in each district game by at least 25 points. NCHS has lost each district game by at least 20 points.
