Sports

It’s always fascinating to hear the history and accomplishments of some of Winnfield’s own. It feels a little bit like a personal experience for each of us who hear of someone from our city who has achieved accomplishments and excelled in things. That is especially true when it comes to sports, because Winnfield is big on sports.

Lionel Johnson, a native and current resident of Winnfield had an impressive career as a football player at Winnfield High School and then with the Texas Longhorns. His high school years spanned from 1970-1972. He was the program’s career leader for tackles.

Willis King returned to the top of the heap last week of football prognosticators with a two miss entry. King only missed the La. Christian College loss Ottawa University of Arizona 45-13 and the Bethune Cook beating of Grambling, 45-13.

Second place went to Rodney Alderman with just four missies. Alderman edged out Sarah Cockerham who also missed four games. Alderman was 20 points of the LSU 38-0. Win over New Mexico with a guess of 44-14. Cockerham was 24 points off the correct score with a prediction of an LSU win by 37-23.

Alderman also came the closes to the actual score on a second entry that predicted an LSU 41-13 win, which was just 16 points away from the actual final score.

In a rare Thursday night outing, the Winnfield Tigers defeated the Jena Giants 41-26 in a non-conference battle on the road and raised their season record to 4-1.

The Tigers from Winnfield rattled off four straight touchdowns to dominate the Giants from neighboring LaSalle Parish. After a first quarter 1414 tie, the Tigers scored the only points in the second quarter and dominated the third quarter with three more touchdowns while holding Jena out of the end zone.

The Tigers went into halftime a touchdown up, but came out a blazing in the third quarter with three scores.

Winnfield’s Tiger running backs Jeremy Mamon and Malachi Jackson each scored two touchdowns on the night. Both had touchdowns in the first quarter, Mamon a one-yard tote into the end zone and Jackson a 75 yard scamper for six points.

Mamon also got the only score in the second quarter with a three yard running TD.

Top spot in last week’s Enterprise Football Contest went to Rodney Alderman. Alderman missed just three of the games on the 15 game slate. He edged out Will King who had four misses and Sara Cockerham had finished with five missed games.

Alderman missed the NSU loss to Grambling, the Baylor loss to BYU and the Florida loss to Kentucky.

The only game in common Alderman and King missed was the Kentucky upset of Florida. King missed the La. College loss, the ULL win over Eastern Michigan, Grants win over Block and the Tennessee victory over Pittsburg.

Closest to the tie-breaker score between Winnfield and Caldwell Parish High was Alderman. He was off 17 points from the actual score of 14-13 with a guess of 25-8.

Winnfield 1st Assembly of God has kicked off Upward Sports for the children of Winn Parish ages 3 to 6th grade. There are currently 71 children signed up for the soccer league and practices are already being held. The kids are having a blast according to Lacey Garner, wife of Pastor Shaun Garner. All games will be held on Monday’s beginning at 5:30pm. The public is invited and encouraged to attend. The first game will be held on Sept 26. The hope is to grow this league every year adding divisions for Calvin, Atlanta, and Dodson.

The Domestic Abuse Resistance Team (DART) has begun a Men Standing Strong Campaign in Winn Parish. This campaign seeks to bring strong leaders in our community together in joining us in our stand against domestic violence. These men serve as a powerful example to Winn Parish.

Each week we will recognize a member of our 2022-2023 Men Standing Strong Campaign. It seems only fitting that we begin with Winn Parish Sheriff Cranford Jordan. He is committed to stopping family violence and protecting all citizens of Winn Parish. Over the years, Sheriff Jordan has been a force in helping keep families safe and fighting crime.

Winnfield Tiger stadium is underway to receiving new reserve seats. All of the old seats have been taken out and new ones are already delivered and awaiting placement.

On Saturday, June 11, 2022 Kisatchie National Forest, the Winn Parish Sheriff ’s Office, and the Winnfield Bass Club will host a Youth Fishing Derby on the Winn Ranger District. The Winn District invites children ages 2-12 to participate in the derby at the Bombing Range Pond, 7 miles west of Winnfield. Check-in will begin at 7:30am with fishing at 8:00am and concluding at approximately 10:00am with an award ceremony for the derby winners.

Please bring your own fishing gear (rods, poles, lines, hooks, etc), bait (for catfish and bream), water, sunscreen, chairs. Adults may cast for children, but are not allowed to reel in the fish.

The 2022 Calvin Cougar baseball team advanced to the state semifinals in Sulphur by defeating the Downsville Demons 11-1 in Calvin last Thursday. Avenging last season’s heartbreaking loss in the quarterfinals to Downsville by the score of 5-4. The Cougars were able to blow the game wide open in the 5 ^th inning when junior John Bradley Griffin knocked in senior Cooper Spangler to finish off the Demons. Seniors Wayne Curtis Huckaby, Joseph Adams and Dylan Kyle all scored for the Cougars as well. Junior John Landon Poisso also added a good hit.

Calvin advances to the state semifinals for the first time since 2007. The Cougars are the district 4-C cochamps and currently own a record of 15-2. Finishing the season ranked #2 in the state, the Cougars will play the #3 seeded and defending state champion Hicks Pirates on Wednesday, May 11 th at 2:00. The game will be played at McMurray Park in Sulphur, La. Field 37 will the game site.

There are many things that can be used by successful men to help others. Using ones status and background as a professional athlete to mentor and reach out to young people is possibly the greatest of all. Brad Bryant, Sr. US Open golf champion has used his status as a legendary golfer to touch the lives of young people and maybe give a few golf pointers along the way.

Brad Bryant was born in Amarillo, Texas and in later years his family moved to Alamogordo, New Mexico. He once described himself as “kind of a good ol’boy.” That seems quite humble for a man who joined the PGA Tour Champions in 2005, has four PGA Tour Champions victories, and many other high points in his professional golfing career. He has used that career to help and contribute to families. For example, in 2012 he donated 10% of his earnings on the Champions Tour to the United Hearts Fund, which helps families cover the costs of adopting children.