Bogalusa suffered a 34-0 loss to Amite, the fifth-ranked Class 3A team by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, in a District 7-3A contest Friday night.
The Lumberjacks’ pass defense struggled, but their run defense did a pretty good job throughout the night.
“They’ve got about nine D-I athletes over there,” Bogalusa coach David Roberts said. “We blew some coverages and they took advantage of it and that’s what good teams do.”
Amite quarterback Elijah Walker threw four touchdowns and an interception, all in the first half, while passing for 219 yards.
Two of the touchdowns went to Devonta Lee, who caught four passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Cameron Henderson caught one touchdown and finished with three receptions for 34 yards and Kameron Lomas’ only catch was for an 11-yard score. Devonta Smith had three receptions for 17 yards.
Bogalusa allowed just one long run, a 47-yard touchdown rush by Milton Sanders.
Amite led 6-0 after one quarter, on a touchdown pass from Walker to Henderson at the 6:51 mark. The two-point conversion was no good.
Amite scored three touchdowns in the second quarter. It went to 14-0 on Walker’s 33-yard pass to Lee. Walker threw to Smith for two for a 14-0 lead with 7:25 left in the first half. The next two touchdowns were from Walker to Lee, 55 yards, and Walker to Lomas for 11 yards. Neither two-point conversion was successful. It was 26-0 at halftime.
Things didn’t start out well for Bogalusa in the second half. The kickoff was picked up and bobbled near the sideline. The returner was tackled at the 5. On the first play from scrimmage, a snap passed the quarterback, and was recovered by Bogalusa in the end zone for safety to make it 28-0.
Amite’s final touchdown was the 47-yard run by Sanders with 5:59 to go in the third quarter. The two-point conversion was no good to reflect the 34-0 final.
Offensively, Bogalusa struggled to move the ball against a very tough defense.
Roberts said Amite is huge up front and said they can move.
“It’s not like they’re big and slow,” Roberts said.
Bogalusa’s best scoring opportunity came in the first quarter with the game at 6-0 when Isaac Carson intercepted a pass and took it Amite’s 23, but the Lumberjacks ended up turning it over on downs.
Also for Bogalusa, Jay Baham recovered a fumble on an Amite punt return.
The game was played with no fans being allowed to attend, as part of LHSAA’s ruling from the fight that took place at the end of last season’s quarterfinal playoff game between the two teams. It was considered a closed competition. The only spectators that were allowed were the school band, cheerleaders and paid staff leaders.
“When you ain’t got no fans, it’s pretty much a lame atmosphere,” Roberts said. “The band did a great job. I’m glad they came. They made the ruling on that and you’ve got to follow the rules. It is what it is.”
Bogalusa is 1-6 overall and 1-1 district play is back in action Friday night when they continue in District 7-3A competition against Albany. Amite moves to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in district.