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Central Catholic faced a tall order in Thursday’s nondistrict matchup with Class 4A’s Vandebilt Catholic at Tiger Stadium in Morgan City.
The Eagles had the Terriers, ranked No. 7 in the latest Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 4A poll, on their heels early, but Vandebilt Catholic’s size and depth word down Central Catholic for a 45-16 victory.
After a Central Catholic 10-play drive to open the game stalled, Vandebilt scored on a 55-yard pass from standout quarterback Andrew Robison to Ethan Henry at the 5:58 mark of the first quarter for a 7-0 Terrier lead.
Central Catholic (3-4) answered with a 44-yard pass from punter Tyler O’Con to Brooks Thomas on a fake punt and added the two-point conversion on a pass from Taylor Blanchard to Nathan Hebb for an 8-7 lead with 1:48 remaining in the first quarter.
Central Catholic’s momentum was short-lived, however, as Robison capped the Terriers’ next possession with a 2-yard touchdown pass to John Theriot and Vandebilt Catholic regained the lead at 14-8 with 22 seconds left in the first quarter.
Robison was just getting started, adding a 1-yard touchdown run and a 3-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Porche. Robison was 22 of 30 passing for 237 yards with three touchdown passing and a running score. He also had two interceptions.
Vandebilt Catholic scored on four of its five first-half possessions and took a 28-16 halftime lead.
Central Catholic’s second score came on a 1-yard touchdown run by Davidyione Bias at the 5:27 mark of the second quarter. Standout running back Chris Singleton had a 56-yard run to set up the score. Singleton finished the game with 106 yards on 19 carries. Bias had 11 carries for 20 yards and a score.
Central Catholic had 270 total yards (122 rushing and 148 passing). Blanchard was 15 of 19 passing for 104 yards with two interceptions. Brooks Thomas was the team’s leading receiver with six catches for 95 yards and a touchdown.
“The kids played hard, and we did some things that kept us around for a little while,” Central Catholic Coach Tommy Minton said. “But they are a good offensive tea, and their depth and numbers wore us down. They were playing 11 different kids on offense and defense, and whole different crew on special teams. The fast-paced offense also took a toll on us because we have several kids playing both ways. It’s one of those deals, but two weeks ago, we came out against Lafayette Christian starry eyed and a little intimidated, but that wasn’t the case tonight and we will get better from this.”
Vandebilt pulled away in the second half, going to its ground attack. Running back Brennan Rogers scored on touchdown runs of 12 and 54 yards, respectively, to extend the Terriers’ lead to 42-16. Rogers carried 15 times for 142 yards with two touchdowns.
Vandebilt Catholic totaled 411 yards of offense (237 passing and 174 rushing).
Reid Bourg added a 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 45-16.
Central Catholic returns to district play Oct. 20, hosting Hanson Memorial for homecoming.
Additional reporting by www.bayoupreps.com.

Patterson needed a late touchdown to turn back North Vermilion 28-21 last week in the District 8-3A opener.
The Lumberjacks resume district play Friday at Abbeville.
Despite the win in its league opener, Patterson Coach Ryan Stewart said he wasn’t happy with his team’s performance.
“We didn’t play with the energy and passion we’ve shown in other games,” Stewart said. “I had to get on them pretty good at halftime.”
North Vermilion and Patterson went to the half tied at 7.
However, Drew Lucas took the second-half kickoff into Patriots’ territory before Dontre Nicholas took a handoff and darted 49-yards for a touchdown for a 14-7 Patterson lead with 11:15 remaining in the third quarter.
“I told the offensive line that they needed to give Dajon (Richard) a little crease, and he came out and scored,” Stewart said last week.
But the back-and-fourth affair continued, when North Vermilion running back Malik Criner ripped off a 49-yard scoring run with 8:45 remaining in the third to tie the game at 14.
Criner added an 11-yard score with 5 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give North Vermilion a 21-14 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Patterson answered when Richard completed a pass to Irving Celestine along the sideline, and he raced 65-yards for the score with just 3:39 left in the game. However, the Lumberjacks missed the point-after attempt, so North Vermilion clung to a 21-20 lead.
Patterson shocked North Vermilion with an onside kick that the ‘Jacks’ recovered at North Vermilion 43.
Patterson (3-3, 1-0) marched down to the goal line, and Richard capped the drive and the win with a 1-yard touchdown run. Richard also added a two-point conversion for the eventual 28-21 final. The junior was 5-of-10 passing for 139 yards and two touchdowns. He also carried 17 times for 112 yards and a score.
This season, Richard has completed 12 of 30 passes for 220 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The standout also has rushed for 591 yards on 80 carries with six scores.
Randy Paul Jr. leads the Patterson pass game as he has completed 37 of 59 passes for 598 yards with seven touchdowns and a pick in limited action under center.
Dontre Nicholas was the ’Jacks’ leading rusher last week with 20 carries for 117 and a score. The senior has carried 124 times for 706 yards and seven touchdowns this season to lead the ’Jacks’ rushers.
Nicholas led the receivers a week ago with two catches for 43 yards, while Ayden LeBlanc, Lucas and Celestine had one catch each. LeBlanc and Celestine both had touchdown catches.
The leading receivers this season are Richard with 11 receptions for 322 yards and five touchdowns, Celestine with 14 catches for 230 yards and three scores and Kai Schexnayder with eight receptions for 100 yards.
Patterson totaled 395 yards (139 passing and 256 rushing), while North Vermilion had 256 total yards (71 passing and 185 rushing).
“I want to see that excitement and passion from the opening kickoff,” Stewart said. “I know we will never quit. We’re a scrappy bunch. We just need to play complete games at this point in the season.”
Abbeville (2-4, 0-1) lost to Kaplan 51-12 last week.
“They’re a Wing-T team, and they run the option game out of it,” Stewart said. “They have some good athletes who can hurt you if you don’t tackle well.”
Quarterback Chad Celestine has completed 24 of 67 passes for 300 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He ran for 122 yards and a score against Kaplan last week.
The Wildcats’ leading rushers are Tavian Menard with 55 carries for 233 yards and two touchdowns and Tavis Briggs with 42 carries for 225 yards and two scores.
Channing Spears is the Wildcats’ top receiver with nine grabs for 120 yards and a touchdown.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Additional reporting by The Abbeville Meridional.

HOUMA — With the first cool front of the fall, many people will start looking for the delicious Louisiana citrus. It appears fruit will be available, but not at the level that growers had hoped.
Terry Breaux, a citrus grower in Terrebonne Parish, said he’s expecting about half of what he would normally produce from his nearly 1,000-tree grove.
“We will have some satsumas, but they really aren’t looking that good right now. But that is not the case with the navel oranges,” he said. “The navels are really looking good right now and are already starting to sweeten up.”
Breaux said some of the growers he knows don’t have much of a satsuma crop this year, but their navels look good.
Now is the time for satsumas to really start coming in, but a little cooler weather would be helpful, Breaux said.
“Normally, about the second week in October we start getting ready,” he said. “We usually have satsumas for Halloween, and the navels are normally coming in by Thanksgiving.”
This year both seem to be staying green a little longer than usual, but this is really not a problem, Breaux said.
LSU AgCenter horticulture agent Barton Joffrion mentioned a common misconception about when satsumas are ready.
“Most people think the fruit has to be orange before it’s ripe and ready to eat. But that is not the case,” he said. “They actually have to be tested by the Department of Ag before they are certified ready for the market.”
Joffrion said it’s not uncommon for satsumas to still be completely green, yet sweet enough to be sold.
The number of growers in Louisiana has been on the decline in recent years due to farmers getting older and their families not being interested in the industry, Joffrion said.
“A lot of our bigger producers are gone now, and that is mainly due to development of subdivisions on some of the best land,” he said.
Breaux’s operation is handled by himself and family members. He said when it’s time to work he makes a few phone calls, and they have a big citrus-washing party at his shed.
He expects to have fruit through Christmas and said he takes off his full-time job the first week in February to strip the trees and sell the remaining fruit at a reduced price.
Breaux said he’s been lucky that he hasn’t experienced a number of the diseases such as citrus greening that has plagued growers in other parishes.
“I guess we have just been lucky or maybe it’s because there is not a lot of citrus in the parish and that’s helping us with disease,” he said.
In addition to satsumas and navels, Breaux also grows lemons and kumquats.
Joffrion said citrus production is viable in most areas south of Interstate 10, and he is now seeing production in more southwestern parishes such as Vermilion.