By Christy Suggs

In the last non-district game of the season, Red River Bulldogs played the Loyola Flyers at Messer Stadium. The Bulldogs put the first TD on the board with a rushing touchdown from Stanley Maxie. Ryder Hogan followed it with a PAT.  The Bulldogs defense held the Flyers to a field goal making the score 7-3. The Bulldogs countered this field goal by scoring a 22 yard  passing touchdown from Tre Smith to D’evin McDonald.  (14-3) Loyola scored a 35 yard passing touchdown making the score 14-10 halfway through the second quarter. Before halftime, Red River scored a passing touchdown to Leonard Mosely and Ryder Hogan kicked in the PAT. Loyola ended the quarter with a field goal. Dawgs went to the locker room with the lead 21-13.

Loyola started off the second half with a 3 play drive with a 43 yard touch pass followed by a 2 point conversion which was good. This tied the game 21 all. This was countered by a 100 yard kickoff return by Stanley Maxie.  Red River took the lead again 28-21.  On a 4th down play from Loyola in the redzone, the Bulldogs defense stopped them giving the ball back to the Dawgs. Unfortunately, the bulldogs lost the ball during a fumble and Loyola recovered and after several plays the Flyers scored to tie the game again. 

The Bulldogs were forced to punt deep in their zone giving the ball to Loyola at the Flyers’ 47 yard line.  The Flyers were held to a field goal. (RR 28- Loyola 31)

With a failed 4th down conversion Red River was forced to give the ball to Loyola once again.  The Bulldogs defense was able to hold their ground giving the offense one more chance late in the fourth quarter.  After several plays the Dawgs were facing 4th down and 4. Tre Smith hands the ball off to Stanley Maxie who came up only less than a yard short from a first down. This would ultimately end the game. Loyola kneed the ball. Final score Loyola 31-RR 28. 

We asked Bulldogs head coach Jeff Harper his thoughts on the game and the upcoming game against Avoyelles. He stated “We had a good game-plan and knew it would come down to the 4th quarter.  Loyola is a well-coached team that is really hot right now.  We were proud of how well we played in the first half. Need to clean up the penalties and turnovers this week. We’ve now got our focus on #2 Avoyelles. They are big up front and play a unique brand of football.  They don’t punt, onside kick every time, & have a very difficult offensive system to defend.  It’s a great test for our guys.  We are treating it like a playoff game.”

Red River travels to Avoyelles Friday night for the last game of the regular season. The Dawgs will be looking for a win against a top ranked opponent.  This would put the Dawgs in a better playoff position,  Wear your blue and follow them to Avoyelles.