Miles Stewart carries Lusher past Haynes, 19-7

Fueled by a record-breaking Thursday night from junior running back Miles Stewart, Lusher defeated Haynes, 19-7, in the final week of the regular season.

The skies were clear but the penalty flags rained down from the skies in this matchup. On the second play from scrimmage, a 70 yard touchdown run from Miles Stewart would be called back. On the same drive, a 42 yard pass from sophomore quarterback Arnold Little to Miles Stewart would be called back. After a couple more penalties backed them up to their own 5 yard line, Lusher would be forced to punt after starting on their 30 yard line.

Haynes would take over with great field position at the Lusher 33 yard line. After some good runs from senior running back Gavin Burns, sophomore running back Paul Longo, and junior quarterback Zach Bott, the Yellow Jackets would march their way to a 1st and goal at the Lusher 1 yard line. The Lions defense stood firm and held the Yellow Jackets to no points after a 4th down snap went high and was downed back at the Lusher 33 yard line.

Lusher would waste no time as Miles Stewart would score on 62 yard touchdown run to give Lusher a 7-0 lead with 5:25 left in the first quarter. Stewart came into the game 72 yards shy of 1,000 for the season and 146 from tying former Lusher running back Joshua Barney’s regular season record of 1074, set back in 2014.

Haynes would recover a fumble at the Lusher 46 yard line after a wayward punt hit a Lusher player. Once again, they were unable to take advantage of the good field position.

The rest of the first half would be marred by penalties. The two teams combined for a total of 14 penalties in he first half and 25 for the game.

In the third quarter, Lusher would get a couple of good scoring chances but failed to convert on a 4th and 10 from the Haynes 24 yard line and fumbling at the Haynes 8 yard line on 1st and goal.

After breaking a 15 yard run late in the 3rd quarter, Stewart would break Barney’s regular season rushing record. On the same drive Stewart would catch a screen pass from Little, make a few moves, including running over a defender on his way to the endzone to give Lusher 13-0 lead with 9:38 left in the 4th quarter after the PAT was blocked.

The Haynes offense would come alive as their marched on a 7 play, 54 yard drive, capped by a 1 yard touchdown run by Zach Bott to cut the Lusher lead to 13-7 with 7:06 left. Bott finished with 9 carries for 46 yards and 1 touchdown. Paul Longo would finish with 14 carries for 83 yards.

The Lions would storm right back with strong runs by Stewart and a 25 yard pass from Arnold Little to senior receiver Chad Britton. On 4th and 1 from the Yellow Jacket 31 yard line, what looked to be a broken play turned into gold after Arnold Little scrambled around and found Miles Stewart in the flat, who would then scamper to the endzone to give the Lions a 19-7 lead after a failed 2 PAT with 3:37 left in the game. Little finished 7/17 for 152 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Haynes quarterback Zach Bott would be picked off by Lusher junior defensive back Sterling McKeithen to seal the game for the Lions.

Stewart finished with 177 yards on 19 carries for 177 yards and 1 touchdown on the ground and catches for 76 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air. He ends the regular season with 1105 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns and lies just 66 yards shy of breaking Barney’s total season record of 1171 yards. Stewart would also end the season with 15 total touchdowns (11 rushing and 4 receiving), breaking the regular season record of 14 set by Keyan Williams back in 2013.

On the defensive end for Lusher, senior linebacker Jorren Butler had 12 tackles (9 solo, 3 assist) and 2 TFL.