Central Catholic dominates in playoff opener

Central Catholic will advance to the regional round of the LHSAA state football playoffs after posting one of four St. Mary victories in the bi-district round last week.
Tenth-seeded Central Catholic, 8-3, beat Hamilton Christian 28-6 Friday in Morgan City in the Select Division IV playoff opener. The Eagles will play at No. 7 seed St. Frederick, 6-3, on Friday in Monroe. St. Frederick had a first-round bye.
The news wasn’t as good for Patterson, which fell 42-0 to North Webster on Friday in Non-Select Division III. The Lumberjack season ends with a 3-7 record.
Elsewhere in St. Mary, No. 22 Centerville went to 7-4 with a 40-26 upset win at No. 11 Oberlin. Centerville moves into the regional round with a Friday home game against No. 6 Mangham in Non-Select Division IV. Mangham, 6-4, beat Lakeview 54-14 Thursday.
In the same division, 16th-seeded Franklin was a 46-13 winner over Grand Lake. The Hornets will be at No. 1 Logansport, 9-1, on Friday in the regional round. Logansport had a first-round bye.
Hanson Memorial moves into the regional round after Friday’s 34-13 win over St. John. Hanson, 8-3 and seeded 15th, will play Friday at No. 2 Southern Lab, 8-1. Southern Lab had a first-round bye.
Central Catholic 28,
Hamilton Christian 6
Central Catholic scored points through the air, thanks to Benjamin Case’s arm and Lucas Pickens’ foot. Meanwhile, the ground game chewed on the clock and denied Hamilton Christian offensive opportunities.
Eagle quarterback Case threw for three touchdowns for the second straight game and 103 yards on 9-for-17 passing. Tylon Hollins caught three of the passes for 63 yards and a 24-yard score. The other TD passes were to Jack Lipari 4 yards) and Drake Rock (14 yards).
Running back Tate Fontenot caught three passes for 12 yards and rushed for 49 yards. Cash Baker ran 17 times for 85 yards.
Their rushing kept the ball out of the hands of Hamilton quarterback Sammy Knight. For 17 minutes of game time beginning at 10:02 of the second quarter, Hamilton was able to run only four plays, one of which was a punt.
Meanwhile, Central Catholic broke out of a scoreless first quarter with the Case touchdown passes to Hollins and Lipari. The Lipari touchdown was set up by Rock’s block of a Hamilton punt.
Rock’s TD reception came with 5:25 left in the third quarter.
Central Catholic also benefited from the unicorn of small-school football: the field goal. Pickens nailed kicks of 25 and 39 yards.
Hamilton, which had only a net 1-yard loss to show for 17 rushes, scored its touchdown midway through the fourth quarter on a 48-yard pass to Travis Bolden Jr. The 2-point attempt failed.
Hamilton ends its season with a 4-7 record.