Roy Lang III

rflang@gannett.com

ARLINGTON, Texas Every once in a while, Morris Claiborne will walk by Dak Prescott’s stall in the Dallas Cowboys locker room and mutter two words.

“Y'all cheated.”

After eight years, Claiborne’s blood still boils regarding one of northwest Louisiana’s most controversial playoff football games.

“He knows what I’m talking about. And I just walk off,” Claiborne told The Times.

In 2008, Claiborne’s Fair Park Indians appeared to have a shocking first-round playoff upset of Haughton in the bag when a pass interference penalty was called on a desperation fourth-and-23 heave in the final moments. The controversial flag – and an additional unsportsmanlike call – led to a halfback throwback touchdown pass from Prescott to Buccaneers quarterback Matt Smith with 35 seconds remaining and a 24-18 Haughton victory.

“We definitely got hosed,” said Claiborne, whose high school football career ended with an ejection following the game-winning score. “There wasn’t anyone close to the guy, and the ball was thrown at least 20 yards in front of him.”

Besides the “terrible call that won that game for us,” former Haughton head coach Rodney Guin’s favorite moment of the night was watching “Mo Claiborne and coach Bursey go completely nuts out there in the middle of the field.”

Despite injuring his shoulder at halftime, Claiborne had 71 yards passing, 56 yards rushing, 68 yards receiving and two touchdowns – including a 40-yard TD reception that stemmed from a tip to himself while blanketed in double coverage.

“When you have Mo, anything is possible,” said Lent Bursey, who was the Indians’ head coach in 2008.

Prescott, then a Haughton sophomore who would later become a legend at Mississippi State, said: “It was a crazy game. Mo almost beat us himself.”

Guin, now an assistant coach at Calvary Baptist Academy, one-upped those opinions.

“Mo would have beaten us by himself if the referee hadn’t blown the call,” he said.

Haughton torched then-District 1-4A rival Fair Park, 42-12, in the regular season behind three Prescott touchdowns passes, but the Bucs needed help to advance in the postseason.

Patrick Netherton, the voice of the NSU Demons, covered the game for The Times. His recap included “a Haughton receiver appeared to stumble and fall down” as a description for the play in question.

“I remember coach Bursey and Mo being ejected and it devolving into a bit of a madhouse after the game – one of the wildest atmospheres I remember,” Netherton said.

Bursey, now at Rayville High School, can now laugh about the game and believes events like the one at Hal Harlan Stadium in 2008 helped the pair of Cowboys.

“When Dak was drafted it made me feel great,” Bursey said. “I thought about those guys playing high school ball together, playing basketball together. (Claiborne) was excited when Dak walked into the locker room.”

Today, Prescott will start at quarterback for the Cowboys while a rejuvenated Claiborne will be on the back end of Dallas’ defense.

“I told everyone Dak Prescott is a player,” Bursey said. “I remember how he lit us up when I was at Fair Park.”

While Prescott has enjoyed a whirlwind and record-breaking start to his professional career, Claiborne took a much different path to Sunday’s primetime affair against the Chicago Bears.

The Cowboys traded up to take Claiborne at No. 6 overall in the 2012 NFL Draft, but injuries and poor play led to a trying four seasons in Arlington.

“I watched his body language and his temperament. I know what was going on in his head. I knew he was trying to do too much,” Bursey said. “His confidence was tested. His mental focus was bothering him.

“He used to get thousands of text messages from friends. Those texts dropped off tremendously. When adversity hits, you’re out on your own with your family and people who have your best interest.”

Bursey has moved on from Shreveport to coach in Rayville, but his message to his players remains the same.

“Kids have to learn how to battle through adversity in your life,” he said. “You look at all the adversity in Oklahoma and North Carolina. When you can teach our kids, at an early age, when things happen, it’s not just sit back, but come back.”

Bursey spoke with Claiborne during the former LSU star’s football camp in Shreveport this June.

“I said, ‘You are a Pro Bowl corner, just relax and have fun. Be Morris Claiborne,’” Bursey said.

“There is still a lot of intrinsic motivation. He wants to make the city of Shreveport and his family proud.”

A healthy, more confident Claiborne has excelled during the first two weeks of the season while matched up against some of the NFL’s best receivers.

The northwest Louisiana stars are on the same team, now, but the jokes about that epic battle in Haughton will never cease.

“Dak has been some adversity, too, with his family,” Bursey said. “Those guys have bonded. The adversities and the relationship they have being just a few miles apart from Haughton to Shreveport has really helped. I’m proud of both of them.”

Twitter: @RoyLangIII