News, sports and entertainment for Richland Parish, La.

Rayville holds off DCS Gators with 5-28 victory

Rayville – On paper it appeared that the Delhi Charter Gators game-plan worked to perfection: 1) Win time of possession to limit offensive snaps (Time of possession 35:50 to 12:10 and 64 total plays to 39); 2) Use ground game to control the game (345 rushing yards to 266); 3) Limit big plays and no turnovers…Well the Gators got only half of it right as the Rayville Hornets took advantage of the DCS turnovers and had plenty of big plays on offense to secure the 50-28 victory.
The game played out as a battle of the #8 in the first half as Rayville Quarterback James Powell, Jr. and DCS’ Mason Hale took turns scoring. Powell opened the scoring with a 2-yard run on the second offensive series of the night. Hale matched him with a defensive touchdown on a 23-yard fumble recovery after Azavier Stubblefield sacked Powell. Trenton Jinks’ point-after kick gave the Gators a brief 7-6 lead. Powell didn’t let it stand long as he quickly answered with a weaving run through the DCS defense on a 68-yard jaunt to give the home team a 12-7 lead they would never relinquish.
Delhi Charter’s Chester McDaniel fumbled on the next series and Rayville capitalized on third-and-10 when Powell connected with Samuel Sledge for a 34-yard TD. Powell threw to Rashad Naylor for the conversion and a 20-7 lead with a little over a minute left in the exciting first quarter.
Not to be outdone, Hale rumbled 74-yards on the second play after the kickoff down to the two and following a 1-yard penalty, he crashed into the endzone to draw closer.
The conversion run failed leaving the score 20-13 after only one quarter.
Things slowed down in the second quarter offensively as the defenses settled in and DCS’ ground game milked the clock. However, the Gators couldn’t convert any drives into points. Powell found Naylor again on a 16-yard pass play that was setup by Powell’s 52-yard run two plays before. Guess who saved the touchdown on that long run? Hale from his linebacker spot.
Hale had Delhi Charter on the move late in the quarter trailing 28-13, but he threw an interception that was intercepted by Sledge at the goal-line with 11 seconds left. Sledge actually returned it for a TD but it was called back due to a holding call at around the 25.
“Despite not getting that late TD, I really felt pretty good about where we were even after that interception late,” Delhi Charter Head Coach Brett Raley said after the game. “We had been able to move the ball on offense and control the pace of play plus we got the ball to start the third quarter only down two scores. We just couldn’t get over the hump and get the momentum.”
The Gators’ offense controlled the third quarter and on the second series, Hale capped the 8-play 44 yard drive with a 4-yard run. McDaniel ran in the conversion to cut the lead to 28-21. However, that was as close as DCS would get. I’m not sure exactly what turned the momentum in the fourth quarter (The only thing I could come up with was the annoyingly loud music from someone’s car in the tailgate area that was allowed to compete with the “witty”PA announcer, the PA music and the Rayville band) but the final quarter belonged to the Hornets.
Regardless of the reason, the momentum shifted as Rayville scored 22 straight points led by Cameron Autman’s 33-yard run and Azriel Campbell’s 39-yard fumble return after Hale was sacked and fumbled. Adrien Brown’s 11-yard run finished the Hornet scoring on the night. Offensively, Powell led the offense with 101 passing yards (2 TDs), 124 rushing yards on only seven carries with another 2 TDs. Autman had 52-yards on nine carries and Naylor led all receivers with four catches for 67 yards.
DCS definitely had a rough final quarter for sure as both Devin Smith and Cameron Bedgood left the field with EMS personnel suffering from concussion symptoms in the final two minutes. Once play resumed, Hale wasn’t done for the Gators as he finished the scoring for the game on a 35-yard run with 95 ticks remaining in the game. Hale amassed 156 net yards rushing on 20 carries as he lost 33 yards on sacks or fumbles.
Hale also added 6 tackles on defense including two or three that saved touchdowns. However, he had a fumble and two interceptions that hurt the Gator’s cause. Such is the life of a quarterback.
Delhi Charter falls to 3-4 on the season and will return home to the Swamp in Delhi to take on General Trass who is 3-4 following a 41-6 loss to Mangham. Rayville will travel to 0-6 Beekman Charter who had the week off but lost two weeks ago 42-6 to “The Charter” as the Rayville PA Announcer said repeatedly.
Kickoff for both games is set for 7 p.m.

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