THE FLYOVER! | WR dusts off New Diana; ‘Necks still looking for a win; Tatum makes statement vs. Bears

West Rusk High School athletic director and head football coach Rafe Mata must have an “in” with the radar folks. Maybe he has some mutual agreement we don’t know about. Or maybe the folks in Tyler and Shreveport bleed West Rusk Raider blue.

One thing is certain: after winning at Tatum, knocking off previously-unbeaten Arp, and now overwhelming New Diana, 49-28, at West Rusk’s Bruce Bradshaw Stadium Friday night, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE doubts that the Raiders are a big threat, not only to win the District 10-3A, Division II title, but in the state championship picture.

In fact, it’s possible that the district could produce FOUR strong-strong playoff teams: West Rusk, Troup, Arp and Jefferson.

Let’s look at the Raiders’ latest win, and jet around the ETBlitz.com coverage area a bit, in this week’s version of THE FLYOVER.

West Rusk 49, New Diana 28: Daylan Williams might or might not have a Superman T-shirt on under his uniform, but Williams has been fantastic for the Raiders. Against New Diana, the running back was all over the place, rushing for right at 215 yards and five touchdowns on 22 carries.

Raiders quarterback Trig Pratt connected with Kam Brown three times for 71 yards and a touchdown, and Brown also had an interception as a defensive back. Gunner Harp caught three passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. Kemontrae McGregor had 51 yards on four catches, and defensively, McGregor had nine tackles.

The high man Friday for tackles was Chris Sanchez, who had 17 of ’em.

In a losing effort for New Diana, quarterback DeJuan Johnson threw for 115 yards and a touchdown (to Ty Main), and also ran for 70 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Raiders (6-1), who have won five straight games, are 2-0 in district play and have a big one this Friday: at Jefferson, a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

Atlanta 42, White Oak 27: The Roughnecks did keep the scoreboard busy — unfortunately, both sides of it — and dropped 27 points on the visiting Rabbits.

In the end, though, it was Atlanta that left happy.

After a tough start to the season, Atlanta has now won back-to-back District 8-3A, Division I games (over Tatum and White Oak) and White Oak has lost seven straight, still searching for that first career win in White Oak for coach Tanner Thiel.

Rabbits quarterback Brayden Thompson, just a sophomore, finished 21-of-33 for 224 yards, five touchdowns and an interception (by White Oak’s Caleb Watson, who also had 11 tackles). CJ Whaley had 11 catches for 143 yards and three of those five TD passes in just an unbelievable night. Drae Simmons and Derrell Sewell caught the other two TD passes.

Atlanta also ran for 197 yards and a touchdown; Mekai Martin had the score, to go with 96 yards on just six carries.

For White Oak (0-7), Trent Jackson went 14-of-37 for 148 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 67 yards and two more touchdowns in defeat. Cal Jester had 10 catches for 109 yards and a score.

Cameron Vail led White Oak with 44 yards rushing and a score. and Jester was impressive on defense, too, with 15 tackles.

The Rabbits are 4-2, and host Liberty-Eylau next weekend. White Oak will take its 0-7 record home and look to bounce back next Friday night at Gladewater.

Tatum 38, Gladewater 19: Defense ruled the day for coach Whitney Keeling’s Tatum Eagles, who bounced back from a road loss at Atlanta with a huge win at home.

Tatum is 5-2 overall, and 1-1 in 8-3A, Division I. Gladewater drops to 3-4, and is also 1-1 in district, so coach Jermaine Lewis’s Bears are also very much still in the hunt for one of the four playoff spots in the district. The Bears host White Oak next Friday, a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Chun Holtom had a 65-yard fumble recovery and return for the Eagles that opened the scoring midway through the first quarter. The Bears answered, though, when quarterback Achilles Hess found Caleb Balcorta for a 7-yard score, tying things at 6-all

Midway through the second quarter, Tatum reclaimed the lead on a 1-yard run by quarterback Dane Moore (14-6), and then Gladewater running back Tray Watts scored on a 2-yard run, but the Bears couldn’t manage to convert for two points, leaving them behind, 14-12, at the halftime break.

After the Eagles recovered a Gladewater fumble, DD Brooks scored on a 9-yard run to put Tatum in front, 22-12, and early in the fourth quarter, Moore scored on a 2-yard run (30-12 Tatum).

Each team would get one more score: Hess connected with Destin Sheridan for a 7-yard touchdown pass (30-19), and then Tatum’s Grayson Lee intercepted Hess and returned the INT for a touchdown.