By Marco Clark, exclusive to the Times
The Chiefs earned their first home victory of the season against the Cowboys of Southwood Friday night scoring a season-high 44 points. Picking up play in the first quarter, the Chiefs elected to kick-off to the Cowboys after winning the coin toss giving Southwood the first possession of the game. During the Cowboys’ first possession they picked positive yardage but came up short on gaining a first down, so they punted the ball away. Natchitoches Central would not fare much better on their first possession either, going three and out that resulted in the Chiefs punting the ball away with 7:23 left in the first quarter. After Southwood received the ball for their second possession, the Chiefs would force a turnover on downs. With the ball back in the Chiefs possession, quarterback Jaylin White seized the opportunity to score on a 1-yard run. Extra point kick was no good giving Natchitoches Central a 6-0 lead.
Southwood returned the ball to their own 43-yard line as the time expired sending the game to the second quarter. As the teams switch sides to start the second, the Chiefs received last- minute instructions to force the Cowboys into a punting situation. The Cowboys could not find any answers for the swarming Chiefs defense which forced another punting situation for Southwood. The Chiefs would take over on their own 20-yard line. White moved the ball to the 41-yard line after a 21 yard gain giving the Chiefs a first down. On the next play, White found an open Trey Solitaire for a long pass putting the ball on the Cowboys 48-yard line.
The next play resulted in positive yardage for the Chiefs, as White targeted Jeremiah Aaron for a 31-yard pass play putting the ball in the red zone for Natchitoches Central. The Chiefs used running plays to get them closer to the goal line. On the third running play, fullback Derrick Payne crossed the goal line after receiving the hand-off from White for the touchdown giving the Chiefs a 12-0 lead. The two-point conversion was no good making the score 12-0 with 6 minutes left in the half. The Chiefs kicked-off to Southwood but after only gaining one first down, the Cowboys were forced to punt. Natchitoches Central would use an even mixture of running and passing plays to drive the field capping off with another touchdown run by Payne to make the score 18-0. The 2 point conversion try by Payne was successful to extend the lead to 20-0.
With 3:12 remaining in the second quarter, the Chiefs kicked off to the Cowboys and the unthinkable happened. Wesley Calloway returned the kick for 85-yards putting Southwood on the scoreboard for the first time. The 2-point conversion try was no good, NCHS 20, Southwood 6. The Cowboys used a short kick-off giving the Chiefs great field position at their own 39-yard line.
The Chiefs used two running plays to get them deep into Cowboy territory but on the third play of the Chiefs, possession tragedy struck with an interception by Southwood on the Cowboys 20-yard line. Although the Chiefs turned the ball over they did not hold their heads down. Their defense was up to the challenge of stopped the Cowboys from scoring any points before the end of the half. The Chiefs defense pinned their ears back and got after the quarterback resulting in safety, giving the Chiefs 2 more points, 22-6 Chiefs. The Chiefs put together two long runs but were unable to reach the end zone before the half. At the start of the third, NCHS received the kick-off from Southwood and returned the ball to their own 19. On the first play NCHS loses the ball due to a fumble but the Chief’s defense stood strong forcing the Cowboys to turn the ball over on downs. At this point both the Cowboys and Chiefs had trouble scoring any points due to fatigue setting in on this hot and humid night, but a glimmer of hope came in the form of an interception by Natchitoches Central’s Devonte’ Snow giving the Chiefs offense new life and motivation to put more points on the scoreboard.
The Chiefs drove down the field with two long run plays capped off with a touchdown by Payne making the score 28-6. The 2 point try was good. Natchitoches Central kicked-off to Southwood and the Cowboys returned the ball to their own 45. Their first play from scrimmage was intercepted by Jacoby Timms giving the Chiefs offense another opportunity to score. This time the Chiefs offense called on Jeremiah Aaron to score a touchdown and he delivered the kick to boost the score to 37-6. The Cowboys started at their own 44 after the kick return. They used two pass plays to move the ball down the field but on their third, the center snapped the ball over the quarterbacks’ head.
It was scooped up by John Waskom and returned 62-yards for a touchdown. The extra point was no good making the score 44-6 Chiefs and the end of the game. Friday, Sept. 21, the Chiefs will hit the road and take on the De Ridder Dragons. Kick-off is at 7 p.m.
