The Airline Vikings will take on the Natchitoches Central Chiefs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Airline has seven straight victories, Natchitoches Central has six straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Airline is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Haughton: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Airline blew Haughton out of the water with a 56-13 final score. Considering the Vikings have won four games by more than 22 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Ben Taylor and DJ Allen were among the main playmakers for Airline as the former threw for 209 yards and four touchdowns and the latter gained 88 total yards and three touchdowns. Taylor is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for four or more in the last five games he's played dating back to last season. Kenny Darby was Taylor's top target, picking up 93 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Airline was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 222 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Natchitoches Central came up short against Byrd on Friday and fell 31-21. While losing is never fun, the Chiefs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Louisiana football rankings (they are ranked 153rd, while the Yellow Jackets are ranked 32nd).
Airline's win was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-0. As for Natchitoches Central, their loss dropped their record down to 1-7.
Airline took their victory against Natchitoches Central when the teams last played back in September of 2023 by a conclusive 41-21. In that match, Airline amassed a halftime lead of 27-7, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
