Central Catholic holds off Vandebilt Catholic for 20-13 victory

Central Catholic recorded one of the area’s biggest upsets of the 2018 high school football season Friday night at Vandebilt Catholic.
Erasing an early 7-0 deficit, the Eagles dominated the Terriers all night by controlling the clock and keeping the Terriers’ offense grounded in a stunning 20-13 victory at Buddy Marcello Stadium in Houma.
Central Catholic (3-3) fell behind quickly when Vandebilt quarterback Max Doyle took a shotgun snap, rolled to his right, then cut back to a wide-open side of the field for a 24-yard touchdown run to put the Terriers up 7-0 after Reid Bourg’s extra point just 2 minutes and 21 seconds into the game. The drive’s key play was a 38-yard completion to Hunter Porche two plays earlier.
Little did anyone know it was the last time Vandebilt (4-3) would score until the fourth quarter.
On the Terriers’ third drive, a fumble by tailback Drew Rios deep in Vandebilt Catholic territory set up Central Catholic’s first score.
Eagles quarterback DeDe Gant threw a touchdown pass in stride to receiver Brooks Thomas, who ran 42 yards into the end zone. The Eagles missed the extra point but still cut the lead to 7-6.
It was the first points Vandebilt’s defense had surrendered in 10 quarters.
The Eagles got more help from Vandebilt to set up their next score. After a fumble by Jules Weaver deep in Vandebilt territory set up a short field at the 22-yard line, Gant scored from eight yards out to put Central Catholic ahead 12-7 before a failed two-point conversion attempt.
The home crowd sat mostly silent as Central Catholic took the same five-point lead into halftime.
Then came the game-defining drive.
Starting from its own 20, Central Catholic went on an 80-yard scoring drive to begin the second half. It converted three third-down attempts, including a third-and-16, and one fourth-down attempt on a fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line.
The touchdown came when Thomas caught a quick slant from Gant, and the Eagles had their third consecutive score for an 18-7 lead.
In all, the opening drive drained 9:07 off the clock.
Vandebilt made several late pushes to get back into the game, but it wasn’t enough.
With time beginning to wind down and no other option but to go for it on fourth-and-long near midfield, Doyle dropped back and found receiver Cruz Theriot behind the defense for a 52-yard touchdown with 5:16 remaining, giving Vandebilt new life and its first points since the opening drive. The touchdown cut the Central Catholic lead to 18-13.
On Vandebilt’s next drive, Central Catholic caught a break after Rios took the opening handoff and almost went untouched into the end-zone only to be caught from behind at the 6-yard line to setting up first-and-goal.
That tackle ended up being a pivotal point in the game because the Terriers would fail to score on three straight plays.
Finally, facing fourth-and-goal at the 2-yard line, Doyle rolled out and tried to find an open man, but another great play by the Eagles’ defense saved the day and forced Vandebilt to turn it over on downs.
The Terriers’ defense did its job and forced Central Catholic to punt on its next possession to get the football back with one more chance at their own 20-yard line.
Incredibly, Vandebilt committed three consecutive pre-snap penalties that backed the ball up inside the 5-yard line.
Facing third-and-28, Doyle was sacked in the end zone by Nathan Hebb with 2:24 remaining for a safety that all but sealed the win for Central Catholic.
Out of timeouts, the Terriers did try an onside kick, but the Eagles recovered it at the Vandebilt Catholic 31. They drove nine yards and lined up to go for it on fourth-and-one, hoping to officially put the game away.
Turns out, Vandebilt did it for them.
Another costly penalty on the Terriers, this one an offside call just as the ball was snapped, resulted in a first down and allowed the Eagles to get into the victory formation.
Central Catholic players began to celebrate on the visiting sideline, a jubilation that later carried onto the field after the game.
“This is definitely the biggest win for us this season,” Eagles Coach Tommy Minton said. “It’s great from a power points (perspective). It’s great to be playing this well late into the season with the playoffs looming. I’m happy with where we’re at right now. We’ve got a good program. When you look at it, we finally put all three phases together tonight. We did a decent job on special teams, and defensively we gave up the one big pass play (to Cruz). I thought everybody stepped up and did a really good job. It was a team effort.”
Controlling the clock was the Eagles’ goal coming in, Minton said.
“We wanted to possess the ball and keep it away from them and try to get them on the sideline and make them a little antsy,” he said.
Central Catholic finished with 291 yards of offense, including a 114-yard effort from Bias on 26 carries. Gant added another 101 yards on 10 runs, including a long rush on the first play of a Central Catholic drive in the fourth quarter that got the Eagles out of the shadow of their own goalpost.
Gant finished 6-of-11 passing for 77 yards with two touchdowns.
Playing on both sides of the ball, he also made a sensational play in the first half by streaking across the middle to break up a pass from Doyle that would have been a first down otherwise.
Central Catholic’s defense held the Terriers to 185 yards – 90 of which came on the two big pass plays to Porche and Cruz.
Doyle completed just 4-of-16 passes. He rushed eight times for 51 yards, and Rios carried 10 times for 54 yards.
Vandebilt coach Jeremy Atwell said his team’s loss fell on he and his coaches.
“We lost in all three phases,” Atwell said. “More importantly, I think we lost in the coaching battle. We got out-coached. They came out how we expected them to. We just didn’t have an answer for it. That’s on us as coaches. You can’t go into (the final drive) and have a substitution penalty in the last two minutes of the game, and you can’t have three false starts that sets you back 20 yards on a possible game-winning drive. When you have procedural and administrative penalties, that falls on me as the head coach.”
Atwell described what he saw from Central Catholic on defense that made it so tough for a Terriers offense that had averaged 31 points its previous three games.
“They were putting five or six men down and keeping seven- and eight-man boxes,” he said. “They were saying they weren’t going to let us run the ball and that we’d have to beat them in the passing game. We had some opportunities to win in the passing game, but we didn’t. When you get beat up front, it makes it tough to win.”
Central Catholic finished with 11 first downs to Vandebilt’s seven.
The Eagles will resume District 7-1A action Friday when it travels to Franklin to face rival Hanson Memorial.
Vandebilt Catholic also will continue district play when it travels to face Assumption in a battle of District 7-4A’s final two unbeaten teams.