The Huddle: Coach Demetris Royal 's local Friday night football highlights

Davidson Local is excited to introduce The Huddle, our review and update of local sports featuring reporting from numerous sports experts from around Davidson County. Coach Demetris Royal from Lexington will give us a play-by-play from the opening night for a local high school football game played by the Lexington Yellow Jackets and Parkland Mustangs.

Early 1st quarter Quarterback change for The Lexington Yellow Jackets seemed to change the pace and tone for the offense.  The Parkland Mustangs had an early punt block that set Lexington back. Another Parkland special team play that hurt Lexington was a punt that landed Lexington to start from the 1 yard line. Rahzel Ewart had a big catch to keep a crucial drive in the first quarter alive. Jaylen  Henderson and Naquel Wood linked up for the 1st score of the game for Lexington Yellow Jackets that put them ahead 8-6.

 Parkland had an early score in the 2nd quarter that put the Yellow Jackets back behind 14-8. Parkland close to the end of the 2nd quarter made a field goal to put them up 17-8 going into the half. Lexington had a bad pass interference call on them that helped set up Parkland to land another field goal in the 3rd quarter, making the score 20-8. 

Qwazir Craven had a late 3rd quarter rushing touchdown to make the score 20-15. Early into the 4th quarter Parkland had a long pass go for a touchdown making it 27-15. Lexington threw an interception that turned into a Parkland score on the following drive making it 33-15. 

Craven added another 4th quarter touchdown putting the score at 34-22. Parkland scored in the late 4th quarter with another touchdown making the score 41-22. Craven was able to add the last touchdown of the game to make the final score of the game, 41-28 resulting in Lexington losing the game to Parkland.

With Lexington having a new first year quarterback it was more of a learning experience tonight to help build the foundation for the season. The team played fearlessly until the end of the game with a lot of ups and downs throughout the game.

 Lexington suffered a lot of injuries resulting in several pauses in the game. The Offense for the Lexington Yellow Jackets will have to play better to help the defense out. With a thin depth chart and a lot of key players going both ways, mistakes will have to be limited in looking for wins this season. There were a lot of big plays on both sides of the ball. A few missed and bad calls along with some mistakes cooked up a bad recipe for Lexington tonight. 

• My MVP for tonight : Qwazir Craven

• Players on offense : Jaylen Henderson , Naquel wood , Rahzel Ewart

• Players on defense : Saquan Cuthbertson, K'Brian Robinson, Zahi White

{Image: Public Use}