The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 32

Tlie Ark-La-Tex leader in higli school sports coverage She dinus HIGH SCHOOL ICIhf dimes ircueport iiilS.com Log on every week to talk about your team, answer poll questions, see scores and a lot nioie. mm CONTACT BRIAN MCCALLUM 459-3298 or sportsshreveporttimes.com MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2003 Football Standings Ttoma fete his toim Players of the week Ricky Scott, Mansfield running back Ricky Scott rushed for 261 yards on 20 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns in a Wolverines road victory. Scott ran 70 yards to open the scoring and added a 71 yard run for Mansfield's final touchdown in a 20 6 win. He also caught a pass for 21 yards. 1 iMf' i ink sim Scott The following earned honorable mention for their performances last week: 1.

Javier Pere. St. Mary receiver 2. Lemond Wheatley. Benton running back 3.

Raffeal Rawls. Airline defensive back 4. DeAndre Williams, Fair Park running back 5. Steve Richardson. Woodlawn linebacker 6.

Antonio Prealow, Red River receiver District 1 5A District Wi Overall W-L 10 11 11 11 Evangel Huntington Ndtch. Central Ruston 00 00 00 00 00 Soutlmood Thursday' mult Huntington 44. Captain Shieve 19 Friday' mult Bvrd 34. Natchitoches Cantral 27 Neville 21. Ruston 18 Airline 10.

Southwood 7 Evangel 45. Suaannue (Fla 0 Thursday Bvrd vs. Huntington (Independence Stadium) Friday Natchitoches Cential at Airline El Dorado (Aik.) at Ruston Southwood vs. fair Park (Independence Stadium) Saturday longview (Texas) vs. Evangel (Independence Stadium) District 2-SA 00 An line Capt.

Shieve West Monroe Bvrd Ouachita 20 1 1 11 11 02 00 00 00 00 Thursday's result Huntington 44. Captain Shreve 19 Friday results Airline 10. Southwood 7 Carencro 20. West Monroe 14 Bastrop 21. Ouachita 3 Byrd 34.

Natchitoches Cential 27 Thursday Byrd vs. Huntington (Independence Stadium) Friday Natchitoches Cential at Airline Parkway vs. Captain Shieve (Lee Hedges) Ouachita at Marshall lTeas) West Monioe at St. Ainant District 14A Bastrop 00 20 Fair Park 00 11 Neville 00 11 Woodlawn 00 1 1 Mmden 00 02 Northwood 00 02 Friday's results Bastrop 21. Ouachita 3 Neville 21.

Ruston 18 Woodlawn 6. Plain Dealing 2 Springhill 27. Mmden 6 Haughton 37. Noithwood 0 Fair Park MtXall 0 Friday Bast'OP at Ridgewood Southwood vs. Fair Paik (Independence Stadium) Bunkie at Mmden Carroll at Neville Gieen Oaks at Northwood District 2-4A u-r.

V. Haughton 00 20 Bossier 00 11 Parkway 00 02 West Ouachita 00 02 Wossman 00 02 ws tiim i High school notebook: Reunion planned for Mansfield track There will bo a reunion on Saturday. Sept. 27, of the Mansfield High School track and field teams which won state championships from through The croup will gather in the school cafeteria at 1 1 a.m. for lunch.

"Were not going to have a big presentation or anything. It's just for the guys to get together to eat and talk," said Terry Cobb of Mansfield, who is involved in organizing the event. "It's going to bo a lot of fun. We've got people coming in from all over." That includes Maxie Hays, who now lives in Richland, Texas, and who coached the Wolverines for much of that era. Mansfield won three Class 2A and two Class 1A state track lilies, along with a pair of Class 1A cross country championships, between li)71 and 7'.

Anyone wanting to contact Cobb about the reunion can call Initial 872-4 luT or Carolina coach wins 500th game SC. Summerville coach John McKissick won his game as the Green Wave beat Wando 34-17 on Friday night. The victory made McKissick 500-119-13 in 52 seasons at Summerville. And it's a record that could stand for some time. McKissick.

who will bo 77 on Sept. 25 and has no plans to retire, is more than 100 wins ahead of his closest active rival. John T. Curtis Jr. of John T.

Curtis Christian School in River Ridge, la. had wins in 34 seasons heading into this weekend. The Green Wave got their latest win with staples of McKissick's career running and defense. A 4-yard touchdown run by Corey Smalls in the second quarter was set up by P.rad Kieber's interception and gave Summerville the lead for good at 10-3. Car wreck takes life of Arkansas QB I.ITTI.K ROCK A quarterback at Pulaski Robinson High School was taken off life support and died days after he suffered a severe head injury in a car accident.

Funeral services are to be held today for Matt Burdick at The Church at Rock Creek. Burial will be al Forest Hills Memorial Park in Alexander. Burdick. 17, of Uttle Rock, was a senior and a three-year member of the basketball and golf teams. In football, he made his first career start Sept.

5 against Little Rock Hall, helping the Senators to a 35-0 season-opening victory. Burdick was driving a Nissan Maxima on Iiiwson Road just west of the Little Rock city limits when he lost control of the vehicle and it struck a tree on the south side of the road at 7:52 p.m. Sept. 8, according to the Iilaski County Sheriffs Office. He died Friday.

Statistics due today for rankings Tlie Times will run a listing of the top statistical producers throughout the football season. Coaches are asked to provide information on their top performers in rushing, passing, receiving, scoring and sacks. Statistics required for rushing are the players' names, number of games played, carries, net yards and number of touchdowns. Passing statistics are name, games played, attempts, completions, interceptions, yards and touchdowns. Receiving stats are name, games played, catches, yards and touchdowns.

Sack statistics are name, games played, number of sacks and yards lost. Scoring statistics are name, games played, touchdowns, field goals, extra points, two-point conversions and total points scored. Information should be sent to the The Times by p.m. each Monday to the attention of Brian McCallum. It can be faxed lo 459-3301, e-mailed to or hand delivered to The Times at 222 lake St.

Statistics will nol be taken over the phone. From staff and wire reports High School Chat Room: Is your team underrated? Know a player who doesn't get his due? Ix i us know what you think about the issues in area high school sports. li-niail us at This week's top ticket' Saturday night prep football BEST BET: There's only one thing nagging the Evangel Eagles about the 2002 season in which they won 14 consecutive football games and brought home the Class 5A stale championship trophy. That one game before the 14. Evangel opened tlie season with a 31-28 loss on the road at Ixingview, Texas, last season, and the I-obos are returning the visit Saturday.

Evangel and Longview (3-0) play in Independence Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Evangel is 1-0 after a 45-0 season-opening win over Suwannee in Live Oak, on Friday. Shave Bevel Tho Times Captain Shreve quarterback Steven Thoma throws a pass against Huntington in Independence Stadium. The Gator is one of the latest local high school quarterbacks to experience the transition to an offense heavily into the passing game. Gators experience the good and bad of airing it out Friday's results Aleiandua 28.

West Ouachita 14 Haughton 37. Northwood 0 Carroll 13. Wossman 0 Benton 37. Paikway 13 Bossier 20. Richwood 10 Friday Bossier at Mansfield Haughton at Bolton Paikway at Captain Shreve West Ouachita at Wmnsboio Wossman at Peabody District 1-3A Benton 00 BTW 00 Mansfield 00 Green Oaks 00 20 20 20 11 Friday's results Benton 37.

Parkway 13 BTW 30. Red River 22 North Caddo 30. Green Oaks 8 Mansfield 20. Jonesboio-Hodge 6 Friday Springhill at Benton Green Oaks at Northwood Bossier at Mansfield BTW at North Caddo District 1-2A 'I i i Parkway are among them, and Captain Shreve is another. When Thoma found out he could "do it" as the Gators quarterback following that first completion, he was tlie second person to come to the realization.

The first was Joe Ferguson. "When Joe Ferguson came (to Captain Shreve as head coach for eight months), he moved me to quarterback. He just thought that I had a good head on my shoulders," Thoma says. "I think he wanted a third quarterback." Now Thoma is No. Thoma 1.

and he is finding both satisfaction and hard work comes from playing the position. "In the jamboree against Southwood, and then against Bossier. I had trouble reading blitzes. They did some pretty elaborate things," he says. "We were able to see what was going on against Huntington.

Every week you watch more mm I I more of that exix'rience of which Gatlin speaks. "I think I'm pretty good at reading defenses for tlie most now," llioma says. "I think I'm pretty good at knowing where my receivers are supposed to be." He says he trusts every one of the five or six receivers the Gators use regularly, and he and they know what to expect from each other during games and in practice. Part of that is the time s)ent over the summer working on the timing. Parkway participated in 7-on-7 scrimmages, including several against Evangel, and Thoma went to a camp sponsored by Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.

I le says he worked on "a lot of fundamental stuff." "I got the most out of roll-out passing. 1 needed help on that a lot." But like tlie other quarterbacks learning the passing game, he still isn't satisfied with his abilities in those rollout situations. "I still need work on it." As dreadful as the Rebels were, they couldn't have touched the Griffins last season. It's been a rough year or so for North DeSoto, not just as a football team but as a school. Head football coach Andrew Hargroder is part of the new blood charged with making things better there, and he's off to a great start.

North DeSoto won its first game and almost upset St. Mary in Natchitoches. Yes, it's all early, but it's good news for those involved. Good luck on keeping it going. Brian McCallum is the prep sports editor for The Times.

He can be reached by e-mail to MCbamraol.com or by phone at 459-3298. i By Brian McCallum The Times Steven Thoma remembers the first time he stop)ed on a high school football field to take a varsity snap as the Captain Shreve quarterback. It was just last season, against a Huntington team ex-IX'riencing a nine-win season and giving plenty of trouble to a Gators offense trying to make a transition to more of a wide-o)en offense. The Kaiders were in control of the game and coming after the Gators. "When you first get thrown out there, it feels like there's a million things you have to do before you even get the ball," Thoma says.

"It felt like things were going a million miles an hour, but alter that first completion, you realize you can do it." Thoma is one of a handful of prep quarterbacks learning the passing game in the area. Since Evangel started turning wide-open passing into state championships, several local schools have begun to make tlie switch. Haughton and Loyola 00 2 0 North Caddo 00 2 0 Springhill 0 0 2 0 Lakeside 00 11 Homer 00 1 1 North DeSoto 0 0 11 and more Gim and you prepare." lliis week the Gators are preparing for the Parkway Panthers who are going through the same change. But Parkway had slightly more success last season as Chuck Beverage led the Panthers to a 4-6 record and within two power points of the plavoffs. "For Chuck, (the challenges) were being able to see different defenses," Parkway coach Jim Gatlin says.

"Tlie more experience you have, the more you know about the defenses." Gatlin has watched both Captain Shreve games this year, and he sees 'llioma making progress similar to Beverage's. "I think he made big improvement from the Bossier game to the Huntington game," Gatlin says. "When he saw the Huntington defenses, he found his reads belter." Both Gatlin and llioma know spread offenses will see plenty of blibring. Tlie young quarterback believes his early troubles have given way to Captain Shreve are seeing what Haughton and Airline, among many others, have already seen. A coaching staff is getting a chance to build a stable program and is working hard to Uike advantage of it.

And the Gators themselves are starved for even a little success. Here's hoping they enjoy what they get. Tlie most interesting surprises to me at this early point is what is going on at North Caddo and North DeSoto. Tlie Rebels have done some winning in tlie last few years, but last season was dreadful. It's never certain how an assistant coach will do once he is put in charge of an operation, but the early signs are that Jerry Byrd can lead a team.

Friday's results Loyola 13. Logansport 0 Rayville 26. Homer 18 North Caddo 30. Green Oaks 8 St. Mary 18.

North DeSoto 12 Springhill 27. Mmden 6 Lakeside 12. Cotton Valley 6 Friday Haynesville at Homer Sarepta at Lakeside Loyola at St. Frederick BTW at North Caddo North DeSoto at Logansport Springhill at Benton District 2-2A Many Lakeview oo 00 20 20 02 02 Red River OO JonesborrHodee OO Friday's results Many 27, Vinton 18 Lakeview 27. Ringgold 6 Mansfield 20, Jonesboro-Hodge 6 BTW 30, Red River 22 Friday Jonesboro-Hodge at Grambling Jennings at Many Arcadia at Red River Montgomery at Lakeview District 1-1A These are the early area surprises Arcadia 0 0 1 1 Haynesville 00 1-1 Cotton Valley 00 0 2 Plain Dealing 00 0 2 Ringgold 0-0 0 2 Sarepta 00 02 Friday's results Take an early look at die high school football scores of 2003 and the surprises kind of jump out at you.

North Caddo is 2-0. North DeSolo is 1-1 and led St. Mary on the road in a close loss. Fair Park has a road win. Haughton and Airline seem to have Brian McCallum Opinion survived the loss of several long-time starters and are both 2-0.

Captain Shreve has already won a football game, not by forfeil and against a program with a solid reputation. I would call some of it mag- ic, but magic is just an illusion. None of what is happening here is illusion. k't's get the easy ones out of the way first. Mike Greene of Airline and Rodney Gum of Haughton have been leading their respective football staffs for a few years now, and they have built something more than teams which occasionally have good records.

Fair Park seems to always have some talent capable of winning, but the Indians have been competing in Class 5A for so long where they go against schools with much larger enrollments that it's easy to forget how competitive the school can be. Tlie Indians are in a belter situation now, and the players seem to know it. Perhaps tlie people at Class 5A-4A-3A Class 2A-1A 1. Evangel 1-0 1 Springhill 2-0 2. Airline 2-0 2.

Loyola 2-0 3. Ruston 1-1 3. Homer 1-1 4. Haughton 2-0 4. North Caddo 2-0 5.

Natch. Central 1-1 5. Many 2-0 6. Mansfield 2-0 6. Logansport 1-1 7.

Benton 2-0 7. Lakeview 2-0 8. Southwood 1-1 8. Haynesville 1-1 9. BTW 2-0 9.

Montgomery 2-0 10. Huntington 1-1 10. North DeSoto 1-1 Lakeview 27, Ringgold 6 DeQuincy 26, Sarepta 7 Haynesville 20, Magnolia (Ark.) 7 Woodlawn 6. Plain Dealing 2 Lakeside 12. Cotton Valley 6 Ouachita Christian 40, Arcadia 0 Friday Arcadia at Red River Cotton Valley at St.

Mary Haynesville at Homer Plain Dealing at Tallulah Bernice at Ringgold Sarepta at Lakeside 1.