Published 11:39 am Friday, October 25, 2024
OAK GROVE, La. — For the second time in three weeks, the Ferriday High School Trojans fell to one of the top teams in LHSAA District 2-2A in blowout fashion. On hursday night, it was the Oak Grove High School Tigers who took care of Ferriday 48-6.
Ferriday received the opening kickoff and CJ Reed Jr. returned it 75 yards for a touchdown to take a 6-0 lead. But Oak Grove responded with a touchdown of its own later in the first quarter and the Tigers made the extra point to give them a 7-6 lead.
“We came out and scored first; we had a little momentum. Defense was playing good. Against Oak Grove, we had to do the job all the time, not just one person,” Trojans assistant coach DeVante Scott said.
But it was the second quarter in which Oak Grove (7-1, 5-0) did most of its damage by scoring 20 points to take a 27-6 lead into halftime. What Scott was not too pleased with was the body language of the Trojans’ players once the Tigers took control of the game heading into halftime.
He added that Ferriday’s offense was able to move the football, but it couldn’t get the ball into the end zone, which added to his, head coach Walter Johnson’s, and the rest of the coaching staff’s frustrations.
Caleb Ellis completed 12 of 23 passes for 199 yards with no interceptions. Jerry Griffin led the Trojans’ ground game with 54 yards on eight carries while Desmen Jefferson was their leading receiver with three catches for 53 yards.
“Offensively, we were moving the ball up and down the field, but we couldn’t finish when we got in the red zone. We’re used to scoring fast, but Oak Grove made us earn every yard. That’s something we can fix,” Scott said. “We had a couple of kids quit on us because they didn’t believe in us. They hung their heads when Oak Grove scored. We were down 13-6 and they were hanging their heads down. All this season, we haven’t played from behind.
“You have to play hard no matter what the score is. Don’t quit. Don’t stop. We expect more from them than what they expect. Oak Grove is Oak Grove. Halftime, we knew what they were running, but we couldn’t stop it. I feel like we played a good half of football.”
Oak Grove continued to add to its lead in the second half. The Tigers scored 14 points in the third quarter and seven points in the fourth quarter.
Defensively, the Trojans were led by Marvin Davis and Lionel Scott Jr. with 11 ½ tackles each. Davis also had two sacks. Zyion Sheppard had nine tackles while Christopher Sheppard Jr. and five tackles and two interceptions. Jabari Evans finished with six and one-half tackles.
Ferriday (6-2, 3-2) plays host to District 2-2A newcomer Ouachita Christian School at Melz Field for Senior Night on Friday, Nov. 1 with kickoff at 7 p.m.
“It doesn’t get any easier for us next week,” Scott said.