Last Friday Night the Magnolia Heights Chiefs went from being a young team to being Coach Young’s team. The Chiefs fought through adversity while putting together a well balanced offensive attack and a solid defensive showing that appears to have them coming together as a team at just the right time in the season.
The Bayou Colts began their first offensive possession of the game on their own 34 yard line with quarterback Larson Ingram taking the ball down to the 3 yard line where he was brought down by Wailes Finke. From that vantage point, Ingram tossed it to Jack Cartwright for the games first points. William Wessel added the PAT to give the home standing Colts a 7-0 in just under 5 minutes of play.
After the Bayou kick-off, Blake Kirby huddled the Chiefs up on their 12 yard line before connecting with Ash Pepper on a 78 yard touchdown pass. Parker Bright’s PAT split the uprights and the score was tied at 7 all.
The Colts were unable to sustain a drive on their ensuing possession giving the Chiefs possession of the ball. From there Kirby hit Ross Thompson streaking down the left side of the field for the Chiefs second touchdown. The Bayou defense stopped the PAT attempt leaving the score 13-7 with 8:33 left in the first half of play.
From there, the Colts offense took over on their own 20 yard line with Cartwright’s pass being intercepted by the Chiefs. Back on offense, Kirby connected with Hunter Jones to set up a 13 yard touchdown run by Keondre Fields. Bright’s PAT was good and the lead widened to 20-7
Gavin Woods relieved Bayou’s Will Burroughs of the ensuing kick-off and sailed into the end zone for the touchdown. Parker Bright’s point after touchdown attempt split the uprights giving Magnolia Heights; a 27-7 lead with 5:43 left in the third quarter.
Colts were not completely broken however, and Willis Sanders bulled his way up the middle for Bayou Academy’s second touchdown of the game. The PAT was good and the score was 14-27.
The Chiefs took over on their own 24 yard line putting together a four play drive that ended with a 55 yard TD pass from Blake Kirby to Ross Thompson to pull further ahead of the Colts 33-14. The PAT was no good and the score was 33-14 in favor of the Chiefs
The Colts went three and out giving the Chiefs the ball on their own 32 yard line. On second down, Kirby connected with Hunter Jones who sprinted 55 yards down the right sideline and into the end zone for a 40-14 Magnolia Heights lead. This time Carson Barham attempted the point after and split the uprights to make it 41-14.
Larson Ingram and the rest of the Colt offense put together a drive that moved the ball down to the Magnolia Heights 45 yard line. On third down of the drive, Ingram, unable to find an open receiver fled down the left sideline narrow the margin 21-41.
As the Chiefs breathed a sigh of relief the Colts took a deep breath and went to work in hopes narrowing the Chiefs advantage. Ingram moved Bayou down the field mixing passes to Jack Cartwright in with a running game spread out over several running backs. The drive ended with Sam Langston pulling in a 28 yard pass from Cartwright for a touchdown Bayou followed Wessel’s successful PAT with an onside kick attempt that was recovered by Magnolia Heights Carson Barham. After a brief meeting of the officials the player was ruled down and the Colts were given possession of the football. Hays Holeman crossed the goal line with 5:59 seconds left on the clock to score the last touchdown of the contest to make the score 27-41. The PAT was good and the chiefs now led 41-28.
At this point, pandemonium reigned as the Bayou sideline was flagged for unsportsman like conduct. Bayou received another unsportsman like infraction when their Head Coach Flip Godfrey threw the flag back at the official. This led to another penalty and Coach Godfrey was ejected from the football game. Both teams exhibited good sportsmanship on the field and the game continued without further incident. When the final horn sounded the scored board displayed a final score of 41-28 in favor of the visiting Chiefs.
Offensively, the Chiefs compiled 479 yards total offense with 6 touchdowns.
Blake Kirby was 21/27 for 344 yards and a .778 completion ratio. Kirby threw 3 touchdowns with no interceptions. Hunter Jones accounted for 9 receptions for 195 yards. Ash Pepper had for 5 receptions for 102 yards. Graycen Crumbly accumulated 35 yards on 6 receptions and Blake Dunlap had one reception for 6 yards.
Keondre Fields rushed 11 times for 35 yards, Ross Thompson had 9 carries for 39 yards, Gavin Woods rushed 3 times for 28 yards and Blake Kirby called his own 3 times for 15 yards.
As a team, Magnolia Heights was credited with 37 solo tackles and 13 assist for 50 total stops. Gavin Woods led the Chiefs with 7 solo tackles and 5 assist. Woods was followed by Asa Moore, Jackson Thomas, Carson O’Conner who all had 4 solo stops and 1 assist apiece. Carson Barham had 2 solo tackles with one assist, Blake Dunlap had 2 solo tackles and Wailes Finke, Colton Crabtree, Harrison Smith, and Walker Gatewood rounded out the Chiefs defensive stops with 1 tackle apiece to their credit.
The win gives the Chiefs a 4-2 overall record and a 2-2 standing in divisional play. The Chiefs are on the road again this week in a non-conference game against North Delta Academy at 7:00 pm.
