Neville quickly assured its home crowd and visiting Ouachita Parish that Friday’s latest edition of the Monroe rivalry would look much different from the pair of thrillers at Bill Ruple Stadium in 2025.
The Tigers (2-1), the No. 4 team in the latest Class 4A poll, shut out the defending Division-I Non-Select champions and cruised to six straight scores out the gate to have the game in a stranglehold well before halftime of the eventual 49-0 victory.
“I thought our kids did a great job on both sides of the football,” Neville coach Mike Collins told the Neville Tiger Network at halftime. “We’re making the plays when we’re supposed to make the plays, just stormed to the ball on defense and did a great job offensively moving the ball around the field and couldn’t be more pleased with what we’re doing right now. Now, the trick to this thing is let’s win the fourth quarter. If we win the fourth quarter, we’re gonna be in pretty good shape.”
Senior safety Dexter “Buck” Major snatched an interception from the Lions (2-1), the No. 10 team in the Class 5A poll, on the third play from scrimmage.
And ULM-committed quarterback Parker Robinson hit fellow senior Emaude Sledge streaking 33 yards to the end zone on the very next play.
The quick strike was just the beginning of a lethally efficient half by the Tigers’ offense.
Robinson and company scored on every possession before the break.
“I think the thing we set our mind to is coming out here and being as efficient as we can on both sides of the ball, and we’ve done a great job of that so far,” Collins said at halftime.
A 13-yard slant to Sledge, and a direct-snap run-in for junior running back Jarvis Blackston pushed the lead to 21-0 after the first quarter.
Neville added another three touchdowns in the second quarter with 34- and 12-yard passes from Robinson to sophomore Deuntra “Reaper” Scheanette and a Robinson goal-line keeper just before the half.
The Tigers’ defense meanwhile smothered the Lions throughout, forcing one punt after another the bulk of the night and adding Trae Dade interception in the second quarter and a fourth-down stop in the third to hold their guests’ most encouraging drive just as scoreless as the rest.
Senior Kayden Jones bounced outside and scorched his way 38 yards up the sideline midway through the fourth quarter to tie the final bow on the lopsided victory.
“We didn’t do a very good job of taking care of the ball in the second half,” Collins said after the game. “I thought our defense kept playing … I’m proud of that just for the fact they kept playing. You can’t have a let down. You’ve gotta win every quarter, and I felt like we didn’t do that.
Robinson completed 14 of his 24 passes for 237 yards, four scores and an interception and rushed seven times for 46 yards and another score.
Sledge led the receivers with four catches for 101 yards and the two scores, plus a highlight-reel catch through contact of a 52-yard bomb before the break.
Scheanette caught three passes for 52 yards and a score, and Blackston and Jones led the ground game with 13 carries for 78 yards and six carries for 50 yards, respectively.
Much of that damage came before halftime, though, with Collins emphasizing postgame the importance of a more complete performance next week as Class 5A No. 3 Alexandria (3-0) visits.
“It doesn’t (get any easier),” Collins said. “We’re gonna have to be ready to go. They’ve got a really good football team, and they’ve got a lot of good players, so we’ll have to be ready for the challenge.”
