MCHS hosts North Central looking for 2nd-straight win

Morgan City High School will look to win its second straight contest when the Tigers host North Central Friday at 7 p.m.
The Tigers come into the contest with a 1-1 mark after defeating Hanson Memorial, 40-6 Sunday.
While Sunday’s contest was a close at 7-6 at one point, Morgan City scored 33 unanswered points for the easy victory.
“I think our kids got better at some phases,” Morgan City Coach Chris Stroud said. “We did score some points, had some big plays, but when you look down at it, we still made a lot of mistakes on the blocking schemes. However, we out-athlete them at a few positions, which is good. That happens in the game of football, but we’ve got to continue to improve on all mistakes, improve on all missed assignments. We did some of that, but there’s still some there that we’ve got to clean up.”
Morgan City quarterback Devonta Grogan did much of his damage with his legs as he rushed five times for 190 yards and two touchdowns. This season, Grogan has carried the football 12 times for 214 yards and two touchdowns. He also has completed 3 of 8 passes for 73 yards with one interception.
Sunday, Khai Hartley threw a touchdowns pass for Morgan City. This season, he has completed 5 of 6 passes for 33 yards with a touchdown and a pick.
Hayden Barron is Morgan City’s leading receiver this season with two catches for 49 yards and a score, while Matthew Griffin has four catches for 45 yards and a touchdown. Kerwin Francois has one catch for 40 yards.
A week ago, North Central defeated Mentorship Academy 20-12.
“They’re similar to Hanson in respect that they have few numbers,” Stroud said. “They have a lot of kids going both ways. They’re different from Hanson in the fact that they’ve got a lot of big, very speedy kids… So the 11 they put on the field look like college football players, but again, they only dress 20, 25 kids, and so they get worn down a bit.”
Quarterback Aaron Johnson had two touchdown passes for the Hurricanes, while Juwan Milburn had a 45-yard reception.
Dymante Nevills had four carries for 45 yards.
North Central runs a spread offense.
“They run a lot of doubles and trips,” Stroud said. “They got one receiver that’s a 6-foot-3 kid that’s a real good looking kid. They try to put the ball in his hands. (The) quarterback is a great runner. They have big offensive lineman.”
Defensively, Jacob Hawkins had two interceptions, Christopher Rideaux had another pick for the Hurricanes and Nevills had seven tackles for loss.
On defense, they aren’t sure how they will line up because they’ve played against different offenses than what Morgan City is. He said they may line up in a 50 defense playing cover 2.
“We’re thinking against us they’re going to show a little bit different front,” Stroud said.
Stroud said the game likely will be similar to the Hanson game in which Morgan City has to play good football in the first half, “and the second half will take care of itself.”
Additional reporting by The Opelousas Daily World.