Central Catholic pulls off final-seconds victory

Maybe it will be remembered as Hail Mary 2.0, or the Morgan City Miracle.

Central Catholic running back Damondrick Blackburn grabbed a last-second pass that had bounced off an Abbeville defender near the goal line, then stepped casually into the end zone, giving the Eagles a 35-34 win Friday.

Also Friday, neither Berwick nor Patterson needed last-second heroics, and none were forthcoming for Morgan City.

Berwick downed Kaplan 34-8, and Patterson celebrated homecoming by overpowering Bunkie 54-6. Morgan City's game at Jeanerette was postponed until Saturday and moved to Loreauville because of field conditions at Jeanerette. Morgan City fell 26-6 and dropped to 0-2.

Central Catholic 35,
Abbeville 34

Blackburn's reception -- on a fourth-and-10 -- came with just 16 seconds left in a game that Central Catholic led nearly the whole way, only to see that lead slip away late in the fourth quarter.

Even before the game-winning grab, Blackburn had put on a show, rushing for 160 yards and four touchdowns, including a 92-yarder.

Then, trailing 34-28 with 2-1/2 minutes left in the game, Central Catholic had to hold Abbeville at midfield to get into position to win. The Eagles did it, and Central Catholic's Tate Fontenot returned Abbeville's punt 30 yards to the 50.

Central Catholic set up there with about 90 seconds to go. Quarterback Caleb O'Con passed Central Catholic to the Abbeville 33, where the Eagles faced the fourth-and-10.

Abbeville chased the right-handed O'Con out of the pocket to his left. As pass rushers closed in again, O'Con heaved the ball toward a receiver who was covered by two Wildcats near the front left corner of the end zone.

One of the defenders, Broderick Fletcher, batted away the pass. But the ball floated back toward the middle of field. Blackburn grabbed it and took two steps into the end zone. Channing Rivere's kick clinched the win.

Abbeville got scores on a 5-yard pass to Jaysen Shelvin, an 84-yard kickoff return by Chad Nolan and a 7-yard rush by Ta'Zavian Andrews.

But Blackburn scored on runs of 10, 1, 92 and 10 yards, and Central Catholic led by as much as 28-18 with three minutes left in the third quarter.

Abbeville's Nolan pulled in passes of 3 and 10 yards from Tahj Judge that, with the 2-point conversions, put Abbeville on top 34-28, setting up the last-minute drama.

Central Catholic, 2-0, will be at home Friday against Riverside Academy.

Patterson 54,
Bunkie 6

Patterson quarterback Caylon Davis threw for six touchdowns and ran for another, and Howard Kinchen caught seven passes for 138 yards and two scores Friday to lead the Lumberjacks.

Patterson, which up put up 40 points on West St. Mary in the the Sept. 2 opener, came back with a 98-yard rushing performance by Elijah Johnson and 23-for-29 passing by Davis,
who finished with 255 passing yards.

While Patterson returned key players from last year's standout junior class, Bunkie is in a rebuilding mode.

The Panthers started sophomore quarterback Dillon Compton, who went 2-for-13 for 31 yards and an interception. Bunkie also employed a special teams philosophy that was cloaked in the element of surprise. The surprise was, often as not, on Bunkie.

To start the game, the Panthers tried a Sean Payton Super Bowl special: an onside kick in a situation that doesn't usually call for an onside kick. They succeeded only in setting Patterson up at its own 48-yard line.

Six plays later, Davis hit Kylin Brooks with a 9-yard scoring pass, the first of two for Brooks.

On Bunkie's first series, the Panthers went for the first down on a fourth-and-4 at their own 32 and threw an incomplete pass. When Patterson took over, Davis struck quickly, hitting Luke Tayloe for 19 yards and Camron Davis, the quarterback's brother, for the 13-yard score.

The special teams upside for Bunkie was Kyle Johnson's 78-yard kickoff return in the second quarter for the lone Panther score. But by then, the rout was on. Patterson led 48-6 at the half.

Caylon Davis and Josiah Jennings each scored on a 5-yard touchdown run for Patterson.

Camron Davis matched Kinchen's seven receptions and finished with 57 receiving yards. Tayloe caught five for 51 yards.

Kylin Brooks had two touchdown passes on his three receptions for 29 yards. And Carson Patti caught a 2-yard touchdown pass to finish the scoring for Patterson.

Defensively, Jones picked off a Bunkie pass, and Damond Davis recovered a fumble.

On Friday, Patterson will be at Ascension Episcopal in Youngsville. Bunkie will be at home against Jonesboro Hodge.

Berwick 36,
Kaplan 8

Kaplan showed a lot of wing-T offense, and had a Bronco Nagurski-style back who fit that mold in Caden Campisi, who led an offense that ran 52 times for 281 yards.

But Berwick, now 2-0, was in control the whole way with some rushing talent of its own.

Jayden Milton ran 13 times for 103 yards, including a 29-yard TD.

Andre Engleton provided some big plays with an 84-yard touchdown run and two more runs of at least 20 yards, one of which went for a TD. Engleton finished with 191 yards on 15 carries.

Quarterback Cru Bella hit four of five passes for 76 yards. Three of the passes for 53 yards went to Zack Gonzales, including a 19-yard score in the first quarter. The fourth went to Namon Bennett, who hauled in a 23-yard TD pass.

Bennett also made the defensive play of the game when Kaplan put together an eight-play drive to Berwick's 21. There, Kaplan running back Brayden Bearb broke free and had a clear sprint to the end zone.

Just as Bearb was about to cross the goal line, Bennett caught him from behind and knocked the ball loose. It sailed out of the end zone, giving Berwick the ball at its own 20.

Like Bennett, Gonzales made his presence felt on defense as well as offense. He intercepted two of the nine passes that Kaplan quarterback Raine Mire threw.

The Morgan City-Jeanerette score has been corrected.