MCHS rolls past North Central 60-6

Morgan City High School jumped out to a 33-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and never was threatened as it rolled to a 60-6 rout of North Central in nondistrict play in Morgan City Friday.
The Tigers scored on their first seven offensive possession of the game. Their eighth and final possession of the first half was halted by the end of the first half as the Tigers took a knee to end the half with a 48-0 advantage.
The Tigers, who never punted, added touchdowns on two of their three second-half offensive possessions.
A running clock was used in the second half.
Morgan City totaled 368 yards of offense (322 rushing and 46 passing). The Tigers had nine rushing touchdowns.
Quarterback Devonta Grogan led Morgan City with seven carries for 73 yards and two touchdowns, while Matt Griffin had four carries for 67 yards and two scores. Quarterback Khai Hartley had eight carries for 26 yards with three of those carries resulting in touchdowns, while Chris Fabre and Taaj Delaune each scored a touchdown.
Defensively, Morgan City limited North Central to 127 yards of offense (108 rushing and 19 passing).
Morgan City Coach Chris Stroud agreed that not a lot went wrong for his team Friday.
“Hats off to North Central,” he said. “They got a small team, numbers wise. They’ve got some pretty good looking kids, but they came out and played hard. The field conditions weren’t great, but we’re pleased with what happened.”
In rough conditions, Morgan City secured the football, though.
“I think we did a great job (with) ball security, and we actually had a young guy do a good job getting fresh balls in and out, and that helps a lot,” Stroud said.
He also said the sun helped to dry things a bit, too.
Morgan City opened the game with a five-play, 51-yard drive capped by a Grogan 7-yard run with 10:49 remaining. Kicker Andy Rangel, who was 2-of-7 on extra point attempts, converted the point-after attempt for a 7-0 Morgan City lead.
North Central fumbled away the kickoff return, and Morgan City recovered, eventually scoring on a 4-yard run by Fabre with 9:01 remaining in the first quarter for a 13-0 Morgan City lead.
The Tigers again quickly regained possession after North Central’s second-consecutive fumble on a kickoff return was recovered by Morgan City. The Tigers cashed in on four-play, 37 yard drive. Grogan dove over the goal line from 2-yards out but fumbled the ball. However, Griffin recovered the loose ball for the Morgan City touchdown with 7:48 remaining. Grogan’s pass to Deandre Grogan on the two-point conversion attempt was good for a 21-0 Morgan City lead.
Morgan City added scored with 36.2 seconds remaining in the first quarter via a 2-yard Devonta Grogan run and again with no time left on the clock on Hartley’s 2-yard run for a 33-0 lead.
The Tigers’ second-quarter touchdowns came on Hartley’s 1-yard run with 7:27 remaining in the quarter and on Hartley’s 3-yard run with 2:56 remaining in the first half for a 48-0 lead following Rangel’s extra point.
In the second half, Morgan City scored on its opening drive on Griffin’s 30-yard run with 9:30 remaining for a 54-0 Morgan City lead.
North Central scored its lone touchdown later in the quarter on Jake Hawkins’ 23-yard run with 9.6 second remaining. The two-point conversion was no good.
The Tigers scored their final touchdown of the evening on their next possession as Delaune raced to the end zone on a 42-yard score with 7:14 remaining for the final margin.
Things will get tougher for the Tigers this Friday as they return to action Friday in nondistrict play in Morgan City against Class 3A Donaldsonville.
“Donaldsonville’s bringing a good football team into town,” Stroud said. “I think our kids are up to the task, and we’re going to practice hard Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and see what happens.”