Jarvis Blackston provided the heavy lifting for Neville Friday night.
Denim Nelson provided the backbreaker, with an assist from Dillon Robb.
Blackston, the Tigers’ 210-pound junior running back, rushed for nearly 300 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead Neville (3-1) to a 38-27 win over previously unbeaten and Class 5A No. 3-ranked Alexandria.
Nelson punctuated the victory with a 38-yard pick-6, as he grabbed a tipped ball from Karsen Sellers (Lamar) and raced into the end zone. The touchdown gave the Tigers a three-score lead with just over 8 minutes to play in the game.
Robb, Neville’s two-way standout who is committed to Tulsa, came off the left edge and got his left hand on Sellers’ pass that was intended for Maryland-committed Alex Fontenot, allowing the junior safety the opportunity to jump the route and grab the interception.
Neville coach Mike Collins said Robb, a senior transfer from West Ouachita who is playing both tight end and defensive end, has made an impact on both sides of the football for the Tigers.
“That gave us the cushion that we needed and allowed for us to be able to do some different things with that lead,” Collins said of Robb’s tip and Nelson’s pick-6 that put Neville ahead 38-21 in the fourth. “For him to be able to come to defense and play some offense as well has been huge for us.”
The Tigers’ defense not only punctuated the victory but also did a solid job limiting Alexandria’s vaunted rushing attack, as the two-headed junior tailback tandem of Kason Williams and Noble Williams was held to 153 yards on 32 carries.
Noble Williams entered the contest with two consecutive 200-yard games, and the Tigers limited him to just 61 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Kason Williams added 92 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.
“They’re really good players,” Collins said of the Alexandria tailbacks. “You’re scared to death of them going into the ball game. … They’ve been really special backs for Thomas (Bachman) and ASH. I thought we did a really good job.”
Sharing the field with two Power-Four recruits, Blackston stole the show, pounding the Trojans’ defenders and breaking tackles all over the field.
Blackston gave the Tigers a 10-0 lead when he popped an 80-yard touchdown run, shedding a tackler at the line of scrimmage and outrunning the Trojans’ secondary, carrying a would-be tackler into the end zone.
After Alexandria answered with two TDs to take a 14-10 lead, Blackston’s 22-yard TD with 1:08 left in the first half gave the Tigers the lead again heading into halftime.
The Trojans grabbed the lead back with an impressive 80-yard drive to open the third quarter, featuring 37- and 33-yard completions from Sellers to Fontenot and senior Reginald “Donut” Monroe. Kason Williams’ 2-yard TD run gave Alexandria a 21-17 lead.
As he had throughout the game, Blackston had an answer. He ran for 35 yards on the first play of the drive, and five plays later scored from 9 yards out to put the Tigers back ahead for good.
Neville senior quarterback and ULM commitment Parker Robinson pushed the lead to 31-21 with an 80-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Deuntra “Reaper” Scheanette, and Nelson’s touchdown gave the Tigers an insurmountable 17-point lead.
Blackston helped Neville run out the clock, finishing the game with 35 carries for 290 yards as he made Trojan tacklers miss all game long.
Bachman said he was “incredibly disappointed” by his team’s inability to stop the run on Friday.
“I know he’s a load,” Bachman said of Blackston. “Credit to the kid. I knew he was a load from last year. I’m not taking anything away from that kid. Obviously, very disappointed, but credit to him.”
Collins said the game plan wasn’t to ride Blackston for 35 carries, but with fellow senior Kayden “KJ” Jones missing Friday night’s game, it made sense to continue feeding Blackston.
“It’s hard for anybody to tackle him,” Collins said. “That’s been the MO for him since we’ve had him playing for us. He’s 5-8, 210 pounds. He’s strong and he’s physical, and he can run through tackles. The later in the game it gets, the better he gets. I think that’s the thing that sets him apart from everyone else.
“Last night, obviously, he was the difference. His ability to be able to get us a first down when we needed a first down and make a big run when we needed a big run was the key. When we’re able to run the ball period, we’re a better football team than when we have to rely on dropback passing.”
It was the second consecutive loss at Bill Ruple Stadium for the Trojans, who fell in Week 10 last season on the road against Neville.
“You take this pretty hard,” Bachman said. “We’ll put it in perspective of what it is. You make your failures serve you in the long run if you’ve got the maturity to look at it the way that you have to. We’ll diagnose it, … and we will find ways to grow from it.”
The Trojans still were able to rack up more than 500 yards of offense in the game, but Bachman lamented missed opportunities and penalties. They missed three field-goal attempts and had nearly 100 yards in penalties.
Sellers threw for a career-high 323 yards, including two touchdown passes to Fontenot, who finished with eight catches for 100 yards. Monroe added seven catches for 166 yards.
Collins said he knew the Trojans’ explosive offense could cause his team problems, but he was particularly proud with how the Tigers finished the game. After falling behind on the first possession of the second half, Neville outscored the Trojans 21-6 the rest of the game.
“Our mantra is to be able to win the fourth quarter,” Collins said. “I think we did a great job of doing that. We want to control the clock in the fourth quarter. … That’s what we did last night. We won the fourth quarter. We ran the football , ate the clock up and played really good defense.”
