Vandebilt Catholic gets big win over Berwick

After a month-long delay due to COVID-19, high school football returned to the bayou area Thursday night as Vandebilt Catholic hosted Berwick High at Buddy Marcello Stadium in Houma.
The Terriers dominat-ed every facet of the game as they routed the Panthers 49-7.
Vandebilt racked up over 460 yards of offense — 314 on the ground — while the defense forced three Berwick turnovers.
“We played well, especially up front on both lines,” said Terriers coach Lance Ledet. “We ran the ball well. Both quarterbacks played well. A lot of positives on offense. Defensively, we only gave up two big plays on one drive that cost us seven points.”
“It was definitely a good feeling to get back on the field. We were excited about the opportunity to play,” said Panthers coach Mike Walker. “We had too many self-inflicted penalties and turnovers. We could never establish a good rhythm offensively. The first-game jitters got us defensively in terms of our tackling wasn’t where it needed to be.”
Vandebilt (1-0) began the season with a bang. On the first play from scrimmage, Bryden Roundtree (14 carries, 134 yards, two touchdowns) sprinted 70 yards up the middle for a touchdown. Dakotah Purvis made the point-after attempt for a 7-0 Terrier lead.
Meanwhile, Berwick (0-1) got off to a horrendous start. After quarterback Cru Bella (11-of-22 for 147 yards, one touchdown and one interception) scrambled for 16 yards, the Panthers committed four false starts and fumbled a snap. Then, Bella completed a short pass to Jayden Milton, who fumbled the ball, and Vandebilt’s Stephen Kappel recovered.
Later, Vandebilt com-posed a 10-play, 87-yard drive, culminating in Hunter Porche scoring on a 6-yard end around to give the Terriers a 14-0 lead.
Late in the quarter, Bella found Zack Gonzales in the flat. However, a hit from Kappel forced a fumble, and Kappel recovered at the Terriers 47-yard line.
Five plays later, Van-debilt started the second quarter with Jean-Luc Lapeyre scoring on a one-yard quarterback keeper to go ahead 21-0.
Berwick finally got its offense going. Bella hit Gonzales (four catches, 71 yards and a touchdown) on a dig route and he spun away from two Terrier defenders en route to a 53-yard touchdown. Jude Vasquez made the point-after attempt, cutting the deficit to 21-7.
Vandebilt responded on the next drive. After Porche converted a fourth-and-1 with a fake punt dash up the sideline, Lapeyre (3-for-3, 84 yards, one touchdown) hit him open for a 45-yard touchdown pass.
Late in the half, Ber-wick put together an 11-play drive that got them inside the Terriers five-yard line before stalling. Vandebilt took a 28-7 advantage into halftime.
“The offensive line dominated, and the running back feasted off of their performance,” Ledet explained. “We controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Our defensive line did a hell of a job also.”
“We didn’t do a good job playing gap sound defense,” Walker said. “Hats off to them. They’re a well-coached group. They punched us in the mouth, and we had no answer for them.”
Vandebilt continued its mauling in the second half. In the third quarter, Roundtree dashed around left end for a 15-yard touchdown, and quarterback Dominic Archila stumbled in the end zone on a one-yard keeper.
Late in the fourth, Bella was intercepted by Terrier linebacker An-drew Villavaso, who returned the ball near midfield. Six plays later, third-string quarterback Robert Blanchard Jr. bolted nine yards around right end for the final score.
“We wanted to stop their RPOs (run-pass options) game, whether they were in two-by-two or three-by-one,” Ledet said. “We knew that was the catalyst of the game. We felt like we could stop the run with seven in the box. We just had to control the RPO to (Gonzales). He’s a heck of a player.”
“Not to make excuses because there are no excuses, but we played seven sophomores on offense,” Walker said. “Their first time in front of a live crowd with a little bit of crowd noise. It got to them a little bit, especially up front. At times we were able to move the football. Take away the penalties and the turno-vers, it’s a little more competitive game.”
Vandebilt hopes to avenge last season’s loss to Dutchtown when they host the Griffins next Friday, while Berwick travels to play Rayne.
“I hope we clean up the penalties and turnovers on offense, and get more gap integrity on defense,” Walker said. “If we do that, we’ll give ourselves a fighting chance.”
“Dutchtown got us last year. We’ll get back in the film room and study our mistakes, correct them on Monday,” Ledet said.