Captain Shreve battles past Benton to remain undefeated

In a thriller on Friday night at Lee Hedges Stadium, Captain Shreve remained unbeaten by surviving a test from Benton, 48-35.

Benton scored early on 28-yard pass from Gray Walters to Ethan Johnson to make it 7-0 with 8:20 to go in the first quarter but did not reach the end zone again until the third quarter.

That’s when the real fun began.

Before that, the Gators answered the first Benton score with a 30-yard touchdown run from Jayden Edwards to tie the game. Captain Shreve took their first lead on Kendrick Law’s one-yard run to make it 14-7 with 10:35 to go in the 2nd quarter.

An explosive 69 yard run from Braylon Finney doubled the Captain Shreve lead and seemed to indicate the start of a rout. A 13-yard touchdown pass from Kenyon Terrell to Cam Randolph with 2:22 to go before the half made it 28-7.

However, Benton was sparked immediately in the second half with a explosive 96-yard kick off return from Evan Cole. Shreve answered back with 10-yard run from William Moore on the ensuing possession in what became a back-and-forth battle.

Walters connected with Pearce Russell for two third quarter touchdowns including an 80-yard pass to draw Benton within a touchdown.

The Gators countered with a drive capped by a one-yard run from Terrell to make it 41-28 with 1:04 remaining in what was a wild quarter.

“We were sloppy and had too many penalties,” said Shreve head coach Bryant Sepulvado.

Both teams traded touchdowns late in the fourth quarter, a three-yard pass from Walters to RJ Moore with 3:22 remaining to draw the Tigers to within six at 41-35.

Shreve’s final answer of the night iced the win when Terrell ran it in for a three-yard score with 1:36 remaining.

In next week’s big showdown, Shreve (6-0) will play Natchitoches Central (6-0) on Friday while Benton (4-2) will try to rebound against Byrd (5-1) on Thursday.