Central Catholic falls in rivalry game; Patterson gets district win

Patterson moved Friday toward its rivalry matchup with Berwick with a 49-20 win over district foe Donaldsonville.

Last week’s much-anticipated rivalry match-up, Central Catholic at Vermilion Catholic, turned into a gridiron version of Murphy’s Law. For Central Catholic, nearly everything that could go wrong seemed to in a 44-7 loss.

Also Friday, Berwick slugged it out with one of the teams at the top of District 8-3A, but fell short 61-47 to St. James.

Morgan City’s year-long struggle ended with a 72-0 defeat by Lutcher. Morgan City ended the season at 0-9.

On Nov. 4, Patterson, 5-4, goes to Berwick, 6-3. Both teams are 1-2 in District 8-3A.

Central Catholic, 7-2 and 4-1 in District 7-1A, hosts Highland Baptist, 2-7 and 0-5.

Vermilion Catholic 44,
Central Catholic 7

The teams entered the game with Central Catholic at the top of the Section Division IV power ratings, 0.12 point ahead of Vermilion Catholic. The game promised plenty of action, but what Central Catholic got wasn’t the action it was looking for.

Two minutes into the game, Vermilion Catholic’s Ashton Belaire recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown. Six minutes later, running back Tyjh Williams, the most effective of a large group of Vermilion Catholic backs, broke loose for a 55-yard TD run. Dane Richoux’s second point-after kick made it 14-0.

Guided by sophomore quarterback Jonathan Dartez, Vermilion Catholic moved into position for a halfback touchdown pass from Lewis Briggs to Travin Moore with 2:37 left in the half. Then Moore returned the second-half kickoff 72 yards for a score and a 28-0 lead.

Vermilion Catholic didn’t exactly stop Central Catholic’s top running back, Damondrick Blackburn. He rushed for 97 yards on 27 trips, and caught four passes for 72 yards. But Vermilion Catholic contained the damage.

And Central Catholic had more than its share of misadventures.

Aside from the blocked punt for a score in the first quarter, Central Catholic committed penalties on each of its five first-half drives.

Early in the second quarter, Central Catholic pinned the home team at its 4 by sacking Dartez, After a punt to near midfield, Blackburn tore off a 13-yard run before three straight negative plays, including an 18-yard loss on a bad snap, and two procedure penalties moved Central back to its own 22.

On a subsequent series, Vermilion Catholic brought Blackburn down in the end zone for a safety and a 37-7 lead.

Central Catholic got on the board midway through the third quarter. Quarterback Caleb O’Con hit Tylon Hollins, Vernon Singleton and Jakavior Kemp with passes to set up a 10-yard TD run by Blackburn. Channing Rivere added the extra point.

O’Con went 11-for-22 passing for 131 yards. Hollins caught nine passes for 80 yards.

For Vermilion Catholic, Williams put up 137 rushing yards on only nine carries. Moore picked up 61 yards on 11 rushes, and Dartez carried 14 times for 41 yards.
Dartez was 3-for-5 passing for 30 yards

Patterson 49,
Donaldsonville 20

Patterson came out running, sending Elijah Johnson and Josiah Jennings into the line again and again. But quarterback Caylon Davis, the state’s top passer, had his say in the outcome, too.

Johnson rushed 27 times for 94 yards and three touchdowns, and Jennings ran 13 times for 83 yards. Both also contributed to a 272-yard passing performance by Davis.

Jennings had three receptions for 46 yards and a fourth score, and Johnson had a grab for 4 yards.

The big target was Howard Kinchen, who caught seven passes for 126 yards and touchdowns of 46 and 64 yards. The quarterback’s brother, Camron Davis, caught a 35-yard score, and Khylin Brooks had six catches for 54 yards.

Jasper Russell added the seven extra points.

For Donaldsonville, Robert Kent had 102 rushing yards on 16 carries to provide the biggest offensive punch for the Tigers. He also ran for a 20-yard touchdown.

Quarterback Raiyen Oatis had a 1-yard TD run and an 82-yard score on a kickoff return.

The high-scoring game didn’t start that way. The teams traded fumbles on their first possessions. Donaldsonville was called twice for holding on one first-quarter drive.
In the second quarter, Patterson got on the board with a 10-yard run by Jennings. Donald-sonville answered with Oatis’ kickoff return.

But Caylon Davis needed just four plays to move the Lumberjacks 64 yards on the next drive, and found Kinchen with a 46-yard pass for a 14-6 lead.

Jennings’ 1-yard touchdown run and his touchdown reception put the game out of reach.

St. James 61,
Berwick 47

After starting 6-0 and suffering two straight losses, Berwick was as ready for battle with one of the two teams — E.D. White is the other — at the top of District 8-3A.

With 35 seconds left in the first half and trailing 33-20, Berwick quarterback Cru Bella led the Panthers on a 62-yard scoring drive. Bella hit Jayden Milton for 27 yards, Namon Bennett for 9 and Zack Gonzales for 12 to set up a 6-yard scoring pass to Bennett with no time remaining.

Evan Crappell’s kick made it 33-27 at the break.

Bennett came back early in the third quarter with an interception of a Brayden Williams pass for a chance to tie. But on the ensuing drive, a fake punt play failed, setting up a 5-yard TD run by Kaden Williams.

He rolled off two more touchdown runs of 16 and 8 yards to keep St. James in front.

For Berwick, Milton had a 50-yard run and caught a 24-yard pass for touchdowns. Andre Engleton had a 4-yard TD run and a 24-yard scoring pass from Bella, who had a 22-yard touchdown run of his own.

Kaden Williams scored four touchdowns in all for St. James. Brayden Williams had a 12-yard TD run and threw four scoring passes, three of them to Khai Preen (63, 14 and 44). Kobe Brown had the other touchdown reception, a 10-yarder.

St. James improved to 8-1 and 3-0 in District 8-3A before the Nov. 4 game at E.D. White, also 8-1 and 3-0.