Tough week for east St. Mary football teams

Vermilion Catholic overpowered Central Catholic in a battle atop District 7-1A, kicking off a grim Week 9 for east St. Mary prep football teams.
Vermilion Catholic stayed unbeaten with a 48-17 win Thursday over Central Catholic.
On Friday, 7-4A contender Lutcher was a 48-0 winner at Morgan City, which ended its season at 3-6. That would be a disappointing season under most circumstances, but it represents a step forward for the Tigers after a winless 2022.
In a District 8-3A game in Berwick, St. James hammered the Panthers 54-13.
As for Patterson’s game at Donaldsonville, a hard-fought battle turned out to be the smallest of concerns. A fatal shooting near the stadium while the game was in the second half suspended play and made for a scary hour until news reached St. Mary that students and visitors were safe (see related story).
Elsewhere, Franklin beat West St. Mary 48-0 in parish match-up of 8-2A teams, and Centerville beat 7-1A rival Highland Baptist 36-30.
This Thursday, east St. Mary 3A rivals Berwick and Patterson will clash at PHS. Each team will try to close the 2023 season with its third win.
Central Catholic will be at Highland Baptist in New Iberia on Friday for their 7-1A finale.
Also Friday, 5-4 Centerville will host 3-6 Covenant Christian in 7-1A. In 8-2A, 4-5 Franklin will host 6-3 Ascension Episcopal, and 1-8 West St. Mary will be at home against 7-2 Catholic-New Iberia.
Vermilion Catholic 48,
Central Catholic 17
Vermilion Catholic now sits alone on top of 7-1A after ending the Morgan City team’s five-game 2023 winning streak.
Vermilion Catholic pulled off Thursday’s win behind a pair of talented rushers, quarterback Jonathan Dartez and running back Thyj M Williams. They actually had more talent than they needed behind a powerful line that gashed big holes in the Central Catholic defense.
Dartez finished with 261 rushing yards on 36 carries and four touchdowns on runs of 36, 14, 2 and 14 yards. Williams rushed 19 times for 153 yards and TD runs of 10 and 39 yards. Luke McLain finished the scoring with a 3-yard run.
Dartez and Williams put Vermilion Catholic on top 13-0 with long touchdown runs in the first quarter.
Early in the second, Central Catholic’s Collin Duval stopped Dartez short on a fourth-and-2 at the VC 20-yard line. Quarterback Benjamin Case hit Tylon Hollins with a 10-yard pass to set up a 72-yard catch and run by Landon Ramagos for a touchdown. A Lucas Pickens kick made it 13-7.
Dartez padded the Vemilion Catholic lead with a 14-yard score, but Pickens answered with a 34-yard field goal with 2 seconds left in the half to make it 20-10.
Then, in the third quarter, the visitors helped Central Catholic by committing 15-yard penalties on three consecutive plays, setting up Case’s 15-yard scoring passing to Tate Fontenot. Pickens kicked the Eagles to within 20-17.
But Vermilion Catholic rolled off the next 27 points on the 2- and 20-yard scores by Dartez, William’s 10-yard TD and McClain’s touchdown.
For Central Catholic, which abandoned the ground game early, Case was 15-for-23 passing for 202 yards and the two TDs.
Hollins had five receptions for 31 yards, Ramagos two for 76 and Jack Lipari four for 82.
Dartez threw only four times, but he hit on four of them for 84 yards.
St. James 54,
Berwick 13
The big question here was how St. James, now 8-1, could possibly be in second place in 8-3A. The answer could be that leader E.D. White, 9-0, started its season with five games against 4A or 5A teams, and none of them got closer to the Cardinals than four touchdowns. At any rate, the question will be answered when St.James hosts E.D. White on Friday.
Even if St. James is playing second fiddle to E.D. White, the Wildcats brought the whole orchestra to Berwick.
The visitors feature a hard-throwing, poised quarterback in Brayden Williams and a big offensive line, anchored by 325-pound tackle Jarmaine Mitchell. The Wildcats optioned, they flea-flickered and they split a tackle to the right with a wide receiver before running left.
And they scored seven touchdowns on their first 16 snaps.
For Berwick, Namon Bennett — he rushed seven times on Berwick’s first eight snaps — finished with 180 rushing yards and a 3-yard TD on 17 carries. His total included runs of 90 and 50 yards. In between, Bennett took a lot of hard hits for short gains.
Quarterback Evan Cappell hit 3 of 12 passes for 18 yards and an 11-yard touchdown pass to Maddox Sampey.
For St. James, Kobe Brown rushed three times for 159 yards, including touchdowns of 92 and 21 yards. Cameron LeBlanc rushed 10 times for 61 yards and a score.
Williams hit 4 of 8 passes for 170 yards and four touchdowns, including a 72-yard TD to Brown and a 61-yarder to Jakias Villanueva.