South Terrebonne defeats Morgan City 48-20

Morgan City kept pace with South Terrebonne for nearly a half, but a key interception that the Gators capitalized on offensively and a score on South Terrebonne’s first drive of the third quarter put the Gators comfortably ahead.
Morgan City (2-4 overall, 0-2 in District 7-4A) could never recover as South Terrebonne (3-3, 1-2) cruised to a 48-20 victory.
“We’re pleased with the way we ran the ball offensively,” said South Terrebonne Coach Richard Curlin, whose squad recorded 322 yards on the ground. “We got some other backs in there this week, so we got some competition in that backfield now, and I think that’s only going to help us later in the season.”
Ahead 21-14 late in the second quarter, Morgan City quarterback Devonta Grogan was intercepted by David Lirette, who returned the ball to the Morgan City 20 with 39.8 second remaining in the half.
On the Gators’ first offensive play of the ensuing drive, Jamala Ricks scored on a 20-yard run with 32 seconds. Shea Pitre’s point-after attempt was good for a 28-14 South Terrebonne lead.
While he said the read and the pass was a bad one, Morgan City Coach Chris Stroud took responsibility for the play call.
“I shouldn’t have done that to our kids with them playing with great effort,” he said.
After the Gators recovered a fumbled pitch at the Morgan City 46 on the Tigers’ first offensive possession of the third quarter, the Gators cashed in on the turnover as South Terrebonne moved down the field before quarterback Michael Gautreaux connected with Kaden Chauvin on a 22-yard pass on a 3rd-and-goal play from the Morgan City 22. A botched point-after attempt left South Terrebonne with a 34-14 lead with 6:20 left in the third.
The Gators scored on their next two possessions as via a 60-yard run by Terrance Sims with 3:06 remaining in the third quarter and a 6-yard run by Trey Cavalier with 4:41 left in the ball game for a 48-14 advantage.
Morgan City scored on its final possession when Francois reached the end zone on a 7-yard run with 1:20 left in the game.
Francois led Morgan City with 16 carries for 94 yards and three touchdowns, while he also caught three passes for 23 yards.
Stroud noted that his team has a lot of players “beat up and banged up” from playing both ways.
“I think this four-day fall break’s going to help us a little bit,” Stroud said, referencing the break St. Mary Parish students will have the next few days. “Hopefully we’ll get healthy, and hopefully we’ll get better going to South Lafourche.”
Most notably, Morgan City quarterback Devonta Grogan left the game in the second half with what Stroud said after the contest was a bruised thigh his quarterback has been trying to play through.
“I give him credit,” Stroud said. “He’s trying to fight through some pain. He’s tough, but it just hasn’t healed yet.”
Stroud said perhaps the fall break would help, but it would be hard to heal without missing a game.
“He wants to play,” Stroud said. “He’s a competitor.”
Early on, South Terrebonne scored on its opening possession, completing the drive’s lone pass for a touchdown as Gautreaux connected with Colby Chelette for a 5-yard completion with 4:41 remaining in the first quarter.
Gautreaux completed 2 of 5 passes for 27 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
Chelette, who finished with one reception for a 5-yard score, did most of his damage on the ground as he led the Gators with 12 carries for 103 yards.
South Terrebonne totaled 349 yards of offense (322 rushing and 27 passing), while limiting Morgan City to 187 yards of offense (147 rushing and 40 passing).
After Chelette’s score, Morgan City responded with a 9-yard touchdown run by Francois with 13.8 seconds left in the first quarter to tie the game at 7, but Sims returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a score with 1.7 seconds left in the first quarter for a 14-7 lead.
Morgan City tied the score at 14 with 5:28 left in the half following Francois’ 22-yard run, but South Terrebonne responded with a 1-yard run by Sims for a 21-14 lead.
Sims had 4 carries for 69 yards and a score, while Ricks added 8 carries for 70 yards and a touchdown.
Grogan led Morgan City’s passing game, completing 5 of 7 passes for 28 yards with an interception.