CCHS braces for Vandebilt Thursday

Central Catholic Coach Tommy Minton asked his young Eagles to get more physical last week, and Central Catholic answered with a dominate 50-20 district win against Highland Baptist Friday in New Iberia.
Minton will try to stick to a similar script when Vandebilt Catholic (5-1, 2-1 District 7-4A) comes to Tiger Stadium in Morgan City Thursday in non-district play.
“We play an explosive 4-A team in Vandebilt Thursday in our bye week,” Minton said. “It will be good competition, and we’re looking forward to it. We have an odd number of teams in our district this season, so everyone had bye week throughout the season and this is ours.”
Central Catholic (3-3, 2-1 District 7-1A) opened last week’s game with a 51-yard drive that standout running back Chris Singleton capped with a 13-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds left in the first quarter.
Singleton added another score on the next drive, this time a 46-yard run, to extend the Eagles’ lead to 16-7 with 8:39 remaining in the second quarter.
Highland Baptist responded to close Central Catholic’s lead to 16-14 with 5:32 remaining in the first half.
Central Catholic’s Brooks Thomas returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown to bring the score to 22-14 with 5:27 left before the half.
On Highland Baptist’s next drive, Central Catholic blocked a punt and then scored on a 31-yard pass from Taylor Blanchard to Thomas for a 34-14 halftime lead.
“I think we played our most complete game of the season from an offensive, defensive and special teams’ standpoint,” Minton said. “We cut our penalties down, and we were able to control the ball, which will be big again because we want to keep Vandebilt Catholic’s offense off the field.”
Singleton led Central Catholic’s rushing attack last week with 15 carries for 174 yards and three touchdowns. He has carried 107 times for 861 yards and 13 touchdowns this season, while Davidyione Bias has 86 carries for 496 yards and four scores.
Central Catholic rushed for 254 yards and passed for 70.
Taylor Blanchard is the team’s leading passer, completing 14 of 30 passes for 274 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions, while Bias has completed 3 of 14 passes for 58 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions.
Central Catholic’s leading receivers are DeDe Gant with eight receptions for 156 yards and a score; Nathan Hebb, three receptions for 89 yards and a score; Cade Minton, two catches for 61 yards and a score; and Brooks Thomas, three catches for 59 yards and a touchdown.
Vandebilt defeated District 7-4A opponent Ellender 41-35 last week.
The Terries totaled 449 yards, including 305 from quarterback Andrew Robison. He completed 16 of 35 passes with five touchdowns
Meanwhile, the Terriers’ Brennan Rogers rushed for 167 yards and a score, and receiver JaCorey Wells had four receptions for 84 yards and three touchdowns.
Additional reporting by www.bayoupreps.com