LEBEAU – The North Central Hurricanes defeated the Avoyelles Mustangs 8-7 Friday night in a game that was as close as the final score indicated.

Avoyelles and North Central each took turns punting back and forth to each other for most of the first and second quarters.

Midway through the second quarter, North Central punted to Avoyelles and pinned the Mustangs deep in their own territory at the 12 yard line. After the Hurricane defense held, Avoyelles was faced with a third and 17 from its 6-yard line. Avoyelles quarterback, D´Joshua Batiste, was then sacked for a safety. Lamar Dixon and Bryce Swayze combined for the sack of Batiste to put the Hurricanes up 2-0 with 6:20 remaining in the second quarter.

Jay Rideau received the ensuing kickoff and returned the ball to the Mustang 44-yard line.

With excellent field position, the Hurricanes finished off a 6-play, 44 yard drive.

Kenard Tanner rolled to his left and when he could not find an open receiver, he tucked the ball and scrambled the 14 yards for the score. The Hurricane´s two point conversion attempt was unsuccessful, but with 3:14 remaining in the first half, North Central held an 8-0 lead.

Early in the third quarter, The Mustangs intercepted a pass at the Hurricane 34-yard line.

Six plays later, Avoyelles´ Norvell James raced 14 yards for a touchdown. William Guillot added the point after touchdown kick and with 7:52 remaining in the third quarter the score stood 8-7 in favor of the Hurricanes.

The remainder of the game was a combination of defensive stands and turnovers. North Central recovered two Mustang fumbles in the fourth period. Cornell Batiste´s fumble recovery thwarted one Mustang drive and Desmond Chambers´ fumble recovery, on a hit by Jai Rideau, stopped another Avoyelles drive.

The final nail in the coffin for the Avoyelles Mustangs came with three seconds left when North Central´s Nason Lamb intercepted D´Joshua Batiste´s pass to seal the Hurricane victory.

Senior defensive lineman Lamar Dixon said after the game, "No one believed in us, not the teachers or the students, no one believed we could win and we showed them we could."

"Tonight they made the mistakes we usually make and that was the difference in the ball game," North Central head coach Herb Lamb said.

"After losing 60-0 last week the team came back and won a game," he continued. "We were exhausted tonight but the heart our kids showed me made me proud.

"We win together and we lose together, but most importantly this win has the opportunity to unite the four communities that make up this school and can bring these communities together."

The Hurricanes improve to 1-1 on the season and next week travel to Ville Platte to take on the Bulldogs.