Sports Editor
As my first school year in Washington Parish reaches its end, I have decided to compile a list of the best games I saw this season. The trend is for the top games to be in basketball and football, as most of the baseball and softball games I saw this spring were lopsided affairs.
Special consideration was given to games with something at stake.
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5. BGS 3, Silliman 2
AA south state
Bowling Green and Silliman found themselves in an elimination game late in the day, with the winner moving on to the south state championship game. With two teams advancing to the Class AA state tournament, the loser’s season was over while the winner moved on to play another week.
The teams were playing in their third and fourth games of the day, making the pitchers’ duel all the more impressive as the teams battled to a 1-1 tie through the regulation seven innings.
With the international tiebreaker rule in effect, Silliman began the eighth with a runner on second base. The Lady Wildcats bunted her to third and scored a run.
In Bowling Green’s half of the eighth, senior Whitney Crowe stepped in to line a 2-RBI base hit to end the game in walk-off fashion and send the team to the state tournament.
4. BHS 60, VHS 59 December 22, 2009
Varnado and Bogalusa played three times this season. The Lumberjacks won all three, but two of the games were monumental four-quarter games decided in the closing seconds. The best came in the second meeting, at the BHS tournament during Christmas break.
From the original game story: “The game saw eight ties, eight lead changes and 119 total points. Neither team led by more than seven, and Bogalusa walked away with a hard-fought 60-59 victory.”
Varnado had the ball under its own goal with less than 30 seconds in the game and trailed by a point, but senior Lumberjack KeKorey Gaines came up with a turnover to salt away the win.
BHS went on to win the tournament on point differential after three teams were tied at 1-1.
3. BHS 48, PRHS 46
October 1, 2009
Rather than rely on my memory, here’s a portion of the original game story that appeared in The Daily News:
“The teams combined for 986 yards of offense and 14 touchdowns, the lead changed hands five times and the score was tied once.”
In short, a fantastically entertaining football game, the likes of which you can normally only find on Playstation or XBOX.
The difference in the game was ultimately a missed two-point conversion attempt by Pearl River, and the Rebels simply ran out of time to catch up. The Rebel offense was built exclusively around star running back James Gillum and its two-minute drill wasn’t worth much.
The valuable power points gained from knocking off a 4A opponent likely made the difference between playoffs and none for the Lumberjacks, and that paved the way for Bogalusa to knock off No. 4 Carroll in the first round.
2. VHS 32, CHS 20
Class 1A playoffs
Varnado lost some very close football games in 2009: 29-22 to 4A Pearl River (see below), 20-13 to 3A Independence, 7-6 to Westminster and an 8-6 loss at Southern Lab that cost the Wildcats the outright district championship.
With Catholic (Pointe Coupee) threatening, down six with less than a minute remaining after trailing 14-0, it looked as if VHS was destined for heartbreak again.
Senior DaOren Roberts was not having it, though, intercepting a pass in the end zone and returning it more than 100 yards for a score to secure the win.
A brawl nearly broke out after the game, but it could not detract from what was a fantastic football game.
1. BHS 77, APCHS 75
Class 3A playoffs
The only double overtime game I can remember covering just happened to come in the playoffs and right here in Bogalusa.
Bogalusa and Avoyelles Public Charter High School were only one spot apart in the seedings, with BHS earning the home game at No. 16, and the game was every bit that close.
Avoyelles fans did their part by showing up and, combined with a strong Lumberjack crowd, filled the gym to capacity and then some.
BHS saw a six-point lead evaporate in the closing minutes of regulation, but Chris Williams threw down the winning dunk with five seconds left in overtime No. 2. The win set off a celebration that was a little too wild for the administration’s taste, as I recall, and the fans were escorted outside by police officers before the Avoyelles team would leave the locker room.
Honorable Mention
Class AA Playoffs
BGS 15, C. Private 14
Intensity is always magnified in the playoffs, and this game was certainly no exception. CPS had beaten Bowling Green in a close game in the regular season, and Bowling Green looked to return the favor.
The Buccaneer defense played one of its best games of the year, shutting down Central Private’s driving force, tailback Bobby Muse. Muse averaged nearly 200 yards per game, but the Bucs held him to 38 yards on 26 carries.
The Bucs’ offense couldn’t match the performance, though. Through three quarters, BGS had a touchdown and a field goal, one set up by an interception return to the four yard line, the other preceded by a kickoff return to the CPS 11.
With time winding down in the fourth quarter, though, the Buccaneer offense began to click. Senior David Fulks found the end zone, and Cash Cooley picked off a tipped pass on the next drive to salt away the victory.
Honorable Mention
FHS 74, BHS 73
December 31, 2009
Bogalusa won some thrillers this year, but on this occasion it fell just short. Tyson Magee took over in the final seconds, driving through traffic to take a one-point lead with 1.3 seconds left in the game.
Franklinton used a flurry of outside shooting to open up a 13-point halftime lead, but BHS surged in the fourth quarter to regain the lead.
Based solely on the finish, this might have been No. 1 or 2 on the list.
Honorable Mention
PRHS 29, VHS 22
September 4, 2009
This game was a struggle between a spirited and talented 1A team taking on a much bigger 4A school, and Pearl River’s depth ultimately wore down the Wildcats enough to take the win.
The finish was epic: Fourth down and goal from the one yard line with eight seconds left in a one-point game. It was the kind of finish NFL Films loves to immortalize (never mind the fact that any NFL team would have kicked a chip-shot field goal.) Unfortunately for the home team, the Rebels had one of the best running backs in the state, the aforementioned James Gillum, and he found the end zone to win the game.
Comments
Ms. T wrote on May 28, 2010 8:29 AM: