The Bogalusa High School Lumberjacks hosted the Albany High School Hornets on Friday night in the district opener. The Lumberjacks, with a 2-3 season, were hoping to build on their victory over South Plaquemines the previous week. Albany hoped to add to its five-game winning streak.

The Lumberjacks took to the game with a vengeance. Charles Taylor returned the kickoff to the Bogalusa 36. With the first play, quarterback Josh Taylor passed to Chase Smith. Smith ran it back and put the Lumberjacks’ first touchdown on the board. The Lumberjacks were successful in their conversion attempt with a quarterback keep by Josh Taylor and the score was 8-0 just 12 seconds into the game.

The Hornets tried to respond, but their 12-play drive ended with an unsuccessful field gold attempt by Orlando Pineda which went wide left.

Back in possession of the ball, Taylor moved the ball 20 yards downfield with two carries to the Bogalusa 40. Then Taylor passed to Tyrese Rousell, who caught it at the Hornets’ 33 yard line and ran it down to the 1. A quarterback keep by Taylor put the Lumberjacks back in the end zone. Taylor was successful in his conversion attempt with a handoff to Smith, which put the score at 16-0.

The Hornets struck back with a short, six-play march of their own which ended with quarterback Nicholas Pregeant handing off to Justin Parish from the 15. Parish carried straight up the center and put the Hornets on the board. Pineda’s extra point kick was good and the score at the end of the first quarter was 16-7 in favor of Bogalusa.

Back in possession at the start of the second quarter, Taylor attempted a pass, which got intercepted by Rhett Wolfe and returned to the Hornets’ 47. The Hornets took full advantage of the turnaround and pushed through another long 13-play drive. Pregeant relied on Parish and Wolfe to help move the ball; and from the 2, Pregeant handed off to Wolfe who pushed through for the touchdown. Pineda’s kick went through clean and the score narrowed to 16-14.

The Lumberjacks rallied and, with 30 seconds left in the half, put some distance between themselves and the Hornets with a pass to Rousell by Taylor from the 12. Rousell broke through the defensive line and scored another touchdown for the Lumberjacks. Taylor passed to Raheem Roberts for the two-point conversion and set the score at 24-14 at halftime.

The second half of the game saw the Lumberjacks’ defense really shine through. In their first possession of the half, the Hornets were held and forced to punt. The drive that resulted ended with a pass from Taylor to Rousell from the 3 for a touchdown. Taylor handed of to Smith for another successful conversion and put the score at 32-14.

Then, the Lumberjacks forced a turnover on downs after just five plays by the Hornets and took over at their own 29 yard line. From the Bogalusa 40, Taylor again passed to Rousell who caught it at the Hornets’ 42 and ran it back for his third touchdown of the evening. Taylor was successful in a quarterback keep from the conversion and the score moved to 40-14.

The Hornets tried to push back but a pass from Pregeant was intercepted by Jakyris Mclemore at the Hornets’ 30 and returned to the 21. Mclemore’s play was followed any a 19 yard carry by Taylor. Taylor then passed to Smith from the 2 and scored the last touchdown of the game. With another successful quarterback keep by Taylor for the conversion, the final score was 48-14.

“We’re starting to play with a lot of discipline. If we can keep turning that around, I think we’ll continue to be successful”, Bogalusa coach Adam Brumfield said, regarding the win.

This story was written by John Glover, for The Daily News.