Central Catholic wins tough playoff battle

Staff report
On a night of prep football blowouts, Lincoln Prep of Grambling and Central Catholic slugged it out to the final bell. Central Catholic landed the last punch.
The Eagles shut out Lincoln Prep, which had scored at least 40 points in six of 10 regular-season games, 14-0 Friday to advance to the second round of the LHSAA Select Division IV playoffs.
In other first-round playoff action Friday, Sterlington was a 63-12 winner over Patterson, which made the playoffs with a single 2024 victory; Gen. Trass knocked off Centerville 58-20; and Welsh ousted West St. Mary 59-24.
St. Mary’s other first-round winner was Franklin, which downed White Castle 44-0.
Central Catholic, seeded 14th with a 6-4 record, advances to the regional round for a game with Covenant Christian at 7 p.m. Friday in Gray. Third-seeded Covenant is 10-0 and had a first-round bye after defeating Central Catholic 25-7 in the regular season finale Nov. 7.
Franklin, 6-5 and seeded 19th in Non-Select Division IV, will be at third-seeded DeQuincy at 7 p.m. Friday. DeQuincy is 9-1.
The knockout blow in the Lincoln Prep-Central Catholic game was delivered by Eagle defensive back Landon Ramagos, who intercepted a Jordan Brown pass and returned it 63 yards for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Lucas Pickens’ point-after kick made it 14-0 near the end of a bare-knuckle defensive fight.
Central Catholic managed only 130 yards in total offense. Tate Fontenot was the rushing leader with 43 yards on 10 carries. But one of those carries was for 28 yards, so the other nine carries netted only 15.
Fellow Eagle running back Cash Baker also had a long night, finishing with 12 yards on seven trips.
But, after Lincoln Prep punted for only 19 yards from its own 11-yard line in the second quarter, the two backs got some glory.
Fontenot’s 28-yard run from scrimmage put Central Catholic on the visitors’ 2. After an offsides penalty, Baker rushed the final yard and into paydirt. Pickens’ kick made it 7-0 with 8:52 left in the first half.
Central Catholic held the Panthers to only 47 net ground yards, led by workhorse Dtavion Wright’s 49 yards on 16 carries. Brown hit on 16 of 26 passes for 169 yards.
But Brown also threw interceptions collected by Dominic Lipari and Greg Hamer in addition to the Ramagos pick six. And Lincoln Prep lost three fumbles.
Eagle Landon Billiot stopped Wright for a 3-yard loss when Lincoln Prep got to Central Catholic’s 21. On a later series, Billiot and Bryan Wiggins sacked Brown for a 9-yard loss after the Panthers reached the Eagle 25.
Central Catholic quarterback Benjamin Case completed 7 of 14 passes for 58 yards. Ramagos caught four passes for 28 yards. Fontenot, Hamer and Drake Rock each had a reception.