Marksville Tigers Advance to Second Round 🚀
By J.J. Phillips
The Marksville Tigers playoff quest got off to a good start Friday evening at Warren Douglas Memorial Stadium.
After starting slowly MHS (9-2) knocked off a scrappy 2-9 Patterson Lumberjack team to advance to the second round of Division III non-select state playoffs.
The Tigers now must travel to Mansfield where they will take on the Wolverines (9-2). Mansfield, a run-oriented juggernaut, who beat Winnfield Friday 42-12 to advance.
“Winning a first round game is always hard,” said Marksville coach Josh Harper, “no matter who you play. Add into that Marksville had not won a playoff game since 2019 and you can see how important putting away the opener is.”
It appeared that weighed on both teams as the first quarter ended scoreless and it wasn’t until the 9:32 mark in the second quarter that Marksville was able to get on the board thanks to Hunter Ferguson who bulled his way into the end zone from a yard out. The TD was set up by Devin Lavalais’ interception.
“We started slow, which I would attribute that to nerves,” admitted Harper, “but once we settled in, we started to play our brand of football.”
While the opening score pumped life into the Tigers, Patterson got untracked and answered as Tilen Hardy broke free to cap a long drive with an 18 yard run for the score. Omar Cortez’s kick gained Patterson a one-point lead with 6:25 left in the second.
Marksville finally got going offensively as Lavalais, who hit 11 of 14 passes for 220 yards hooked up with his favorite receiver, Amori Benjamin, for two second quarter TDs:
- A 37-yard pass (at the 4:06 mark)
- A 7-yard pass (at the 36 second mark)
“Once the offense settled in, we began to hit some big offensive plays,” said Harper. “Bam (Lavalais) did what he does best and our wide receivers, especially Benjamin had a big, big night tonight.”
Lavalais finished with 220 yards passing and another 106 yards rushing. He spread out his passing to his three receivers:
- Benjamin
- Kyan Carmouche (2-34)
- Jaden Price (2-46)
- Noah Volker (1-12)
Defensively, the Tigers got another fine performance. While holding the Lumberjacks to just 168 yards in total offense, they also had three interceptions and three fumbles of which they recovered all three.
“Our defense was solid all night,” said Harper. “Jaden Price and Jayce Warren played outstanding. And the turnovers they caused helped us keep our foot on the gas offensively.”
Patterson’s Jamall Pollard’s TD was one of the few times the Lumberjacks could shake coverage that resulted in a 43 TD pass from Hayven Keller. Pollard finished with 68 yards on three catches.
Marksville, though, came charging back as Benjamin caught:
- A 57 TD pass from Lavalais
- A 34-yard TD pass from Lavalais to Jaden Price
- A 12-yard pass from Lavalais to Noah Volker
Marksville capped off the game with a three-yard run by Jaden Holmes.
“I am glad to get that one behind us,” said Harper. “Now we have another tough one coming up in Mansfield. We will have our work cut out for us.”
The Tigers, though, don’t mind the work as long as the results are the same as last Friday.
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