The pep in their step was back: Marksville Tigers dominate Vidalia🐯

By J.J. Phillips

The Marksville Tigers (7-1, 2-1) demolished the Vidalia Vikings (2-6, 0-3) by a score of 48-16 Friday at Warren Douglas Memorial Stadium.

“Overall we did a great job on both sides of the football,” said coach Josh Harper.
“Offense, defense and special teams — we played well after sleepwalking against Caldwell Parish (14-7) last week and losing to Jena 62-46 two weeks ago.”

The Tigers scored the first five touchdowns of the game on:

✅ Two touchdown passes
✅ Two touchdown runs
✅ A 51-yard interception return

Even an eighth grader got into the action as Calvin Young punched the football into the end zone for the third score of the game.

“I was very happy to see Calvin score,” Harper said.
“He is strong, has good vision on the field and is hard to bring down.”

Young scored twice, including an 8-yard TD run in the third quarter. He finished the night with 18 yards on 8 carries.

Offensive Firepower

Marksville’s ground attack was led by:

• Jayden Holmes — 14 carries, 100 yards
• Devin Lavalais — 9 carries, 94 yards

When not running the ball, the Tigers found success through the air with Lavalais delivering passes to:

• Armoni Benjamin — 3 catches, 59 yards
• Jaden Price — 5 catches, 57 yards

Lavalais also recorded the 51-yard interception touchdown.

“We were very balanced on both sides of the football,” Harper said.
“Devin tends to try and carry the team on his shoulders. But we spread it around much better than we’ve been doing recently.”

The stats back that up:

📊 Marksville Offense

• 238 rushing yards
• 116 passing yards
• 354 total yards

📉 Vidalia Offense

• 66 rushing yards
• 9 passing yards
• 75 total yards

Vidalia’s top rushers were Michael Randall (9-25) and Jayden Gaines (2-25).
Their biggest offensive play came on a 55-yard kickoff return by Gaines near the end of the first half.

“That’s not a bad night of work,” Harper added.
“To hold a team under 100 yards is really impressive.”

Next Up

With their pep restored, the Tigers hope to carry the momentum into the remainder of the season and the playoffs.