Natchitoches Central was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their seventh straight defeat. They came up short against the Airline Vikings, falling 76-52. 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 150th, while the Vikings are ranked 15th).
When it comes to explaining why Natchitoches Central lost, don't look at Owen Smith. Despite the final result, he threw for 401 yards and five touchdowns, and also rushed for 147 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries. The dominant performance gave Smith a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Jordan Carpenter, who picked up 77 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
It was another big night for Ben Taylor, who threw for 460 yards and six touchdowns while completing 82.4% of his passes, and also punched in two touchdowns on the ground for Airline. Taylor has been hot , having posted four or more passing touchdowns the last six times he's played. Kenny Darby was Taylor's top target, picking up 202 receiving yards and four touchdowns.
Natchitoches Central's loss dropped their record down to 1-8. As for Airline, their victory was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 8-0.
Natchitoches Central will host Huntington at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Huntington is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 32 points per game this season. As for Airline, they will venture away from home to take on Byrd at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Airline's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points every time they've taken the field this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
