Ouachita Parish had held Neville out of the end zone the first three-plus quarters Friday.
And when the No. 14 Lions (10-4) needed one more stop in the final minutes to hold off the No. 2 Tigers (9-4), they rose to the occasion to their District 2-5A rival, 14-7, and earn a historic state-championship opportunity.
With just under seven minutes left in the contest, Neville took over at its own 6-yard line.
Junior quarterback Parker Robinson led his squad on down the field, connecting on six straight passes and knocking on the door of potentially leveling the score.
But on third-and-6, Ouachita edge rusher Alex Smith notched a sack to set up a fourth-and-long. And senior corner Wydell Clark Jr. defended the pass and forced the turnover on downs to allow the Lions the opportunity to ice the ball game and punch their first ticket to Caesars Superdome since 1994.
“We haven’t been here in 20 years, and we haven’t been to the Dome in almost 30.” Ouachita senior quarterback Montrell Conner Jr. said. “To do this and then beat Neville, this is a revenge tour. We work our butts off each and every day. We deserve this — and we’re not done yet.”
The Lions will face another District 2-5A rival, No. 1 Ruston (11-2), in New Orleans for the opportunity to win their first title since 1989.
Few outside of the team itself likely predicted Ouachita would be among the last teams standing in December.
But coach Benjy Lewis and company saw the potential in the offseason and never wavered during a four-game losing streak during their district gauntlet.
“We took some lumps in district,” star defensive tackle Dylan Berymon said. “Dropped one to Neville and one to Ruston, but it’s the same thing with them—you can’t beat a team twice.”
The Lions took the opening lead late in the first period after a blocked punt set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Conner.
Neville appeared to have its answer late in the opening half. Robinson found Desi Byrd open in the end zone but Ouachita safety Deandre Mansfield got a finger in to knock the ball loose.
After the break, the teams exchanged punts until late in the third when Conner capped a 10-play drive by tossing a 27-yard scoring strike to Seneca Battle to extend the lead to 14-0.
“I saw no safety in the middle.” Conner explained. “They all walked down because they were expecting us to run. I knew the concept we had, so I just let it fly — even if I took a shot — and my receiver made a play for me.”
Neville finally found the end zone early with a 78-yard drive that halved the lead early in the fourth when Robinson connected with Jamarion Roberson on a 13-yard touchdown pass.
But that’s all the Lions would allow, coming up with stops the rest of the way to keep the Tigers from finding much of a rhythm and hold them to just 46 yards on the ground for the night.
