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Indians fall to third district foe By CLAUDE VINSON
Sports Editor  | Photo by Lawrence White
Up for grabs
Byhalia’s Pat Malone (left) goes for the catch near the goal-line. |
The Indians faced the number two team in their district last Friday night when the Rosa Fort Lions roared into town. The Lions were 5-1 on the season and the Indians were 3-3. This was also homecoming for Byhalia. The
Lions received first with Bernardrick McKinney running the offense.
Right away he started mixing the plays and one went for a touchdown,
which was called back on a holding penalty. McKinney, also the punter,
had to kick it away when they couldn’t make up the yardage deficit. Markez
Saulsberry brought the Indians up in the shotgun with receivers split
wide. He completed a flare to Devonte Norman for a first down. He used
the same play with a different receiver, Pat Malone. Byhalia was backed
up on an offensive holding flag, then fumbled the ball to Rosa Fort.
The Indian defense held and the Lions called in the field goal team.
The kicker nailed the three-pointer and the visitors had the early lead
3-0. Byhalia got into trouble early after the
kick and picked up its fourth penalty and had to punt. Norman kicked a
high one that took a good Byhalia bounce to the Rosa Fort 30. But the
Lions put a thorn in their own foot with a pair of big penalties and
had to punt. Byhalia tried a long pass to Malone,
who was just a few steps from making the grab. The home team went four
and out, gambling on the last down. The first quarter closed with the
score still 3-0. The Indians suffered a safety
and their free kick was returned to their own 15-yard line. Byhalia’s
defense was hanging tight. They made the Lions fumble twice but didn’t
recover the balls. However, it forced the Lions to try some desperation
plays with one ending in the end zone to a wide open D’Anthony Hubbard.
Byhalia blocked the point-after try and it was 11-0.  | Photos by Lawrence White
Battling for yards
A couple of Lions wrap up Byhalia’s Devonte Norman (1) i |
Norman
moved the Indians into Lion country with a pair of good runs. Then came
a long ball from McKinney to Malone for a first and goal. Norman then
went over for six. They made the deuce and on the short kick recovered
at the 50. They failed to move and had to give the ball to the Lions.
Rosa Fort immediately went to the air and on the third pass hit Patrick
Durr for the score. The extra-point try failed but the horn sounded
seconds later and it was 17-8 at halftime. After
the kick, Norman broke loose and made an 80-yard run. He had one man to
beat for pay dirt and was downed at the 2. Byhalia couldn’t punch it in
from there in four tries, however, the Indians’ defense made Rosa Fort
punt from the same locale. Later, McKinney rushed in and put a mean hit
on Saulsberry, knocking him out of the game for a couple of downs. More
bad luck followed. Byhalia fumbled and Calais Dunn caught it on the
bounce and ran about 45 yards for six more Lion points. There was no
extra point and the game was still in the third with a 23-8 score. Saulsberry
found a new target in Cameron Stewart to move the chains. And just as
the Indians were on the move, the Lions intercepted. But the ball was
returned to the Indians on a fumble scant seconds later. After a
timeout, the fullback Jerett Rayford, broke through for a first.
Saulsberry and Malone hooked up for another first at the 35. One play
later, Saulsberry uncorked a bomb out to Malone in the flats for six.
Terrico Myers was convoyed in for the two bonus points and Byhalia was
back in it, down by seven points. The third ended on the 23-16 score. Rosa Fort scored to open the fourth quarter on a quarterback sneak. This time the extra point was booted, 30-16. Byhalia
was in trouble deep in its own end zone and suffered another safety,
making it 32-16. The Indians did recover an onside kick but a bad play
resulted in a fumble, which resulted in another seven for Rosa Fort,
making it 39-16. Saulsberry and Malone were still
teaming up but time was running short. Malone caught a bullet from
Saulsberry between two tacklers and fell into the end zone. They didn’t
get the extra points and it was over with the score 39-22. Byhalia
(3-4 overall and 0-3 in the district) will be on the road this Friday
night to Lewisburg for another district contest.  | First down
Byhalia’s Andrey Collins (4) gets a first down, much to the delight of teammate Cordell Anderson (3) background. |
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