CCHS looks to knock off undefeated LCA

In the first four weeks of the season, the Central Catholic Eagles have shown improvement as they navigated their predistrict schedule, whether it was in the run game, the win column the passing game or its defense.
This week, the Eagles will attempt to take that next step with a young squad when it faces Lafayette Christian, Class 1A’s fourth-ranked team in the latest Louisiana Sports Writers Association 1A poll, Thursday at 7 p.m. in Morgan City.
“When you look at the schedule before the season starts, you realize that Lafayette Christian is probably the (district) favorite by most people coming into this year because they have I think it was 18 returning starters off of a team last year that went 7-3 so a lot of experience back on that team and a lot of talented players,” Central Catholic Coach Tommy Minton said. “We were young coming in. We had to replace a lot of guys, and I feel like we’ve gotten experience every week. We played some tough competition early in the year, and this is the game we wanted to kind of be peaking for, and hopefully we’re doing that.”
Central Catholic (2-2 overall, 1-0 in district) comes into this week’s matchup, riding a two-game winning streak.
The Eagles defeated Gueydan, 46-29, a week ago. Central Catholic trailed 29-22 at halftime but outscored Gueydan 24-0 in the second half and held the Bears to just one first down.
Meanwhile, Lafayette Christian (4-0, 1-0) topped Highland Baptist, 56-7.
Lafayette Christian junior quarterback Zachary Clement had three passing touchdowns, while the Knights’ defense held Highland Baptist standout running back to 11 carries for minus-4 yards rushing.
Minton agreed that Thursday night’s district matchup would be a great atmosphere.
“The kids are excited,” Minton said Wednesday. “It’s been a phenomenal week of practice. I told the coaches yesterday when we walked in after practice we couldn’t have asked for three better days of effort so far from the kids and focus. That goes a long way in being prepared for game night, and I’m just pleased with the way they’ve prepared and pleased with the attitude and hopefully that’s going to carry over into a great effort on Thursday.”
As for the Knights, the Eagles will face a squad that Minton said runs and passes the ball well.
“Offensively, they’re really tough to defend, because most of the time in high school when you go into a game, you feel like if you take away the run game or if you take away the pass game, you cripple a team, but they do both of those very, very well,” Minton said. “If you take away one, they can do the other just as good. When you look at Clement, the quarterback, and then Breaux, the running back, they’re two of the best athletes in the district, so we’re going to really, really have to do a good job of tackling on those guys.
“We’re going to have to do a good job of limiting big plays,” Minton added. “We want to make them try to earn everything, make them try to go on 10 to 12 plays and let them make a mistake and not give up the big play, which that’s easier said than done when you dealing with a bunch of good athletes like they have.”
Defensively, Minton said the Knights run a 3-4 look and have some size.
“They present a great challenge, but over the years, this is the games you like to be in,” Minton said. “You like to be in meaningful games. You like to be in games where you got to compete all week long to prepare for. If you know that you can show up on Friday night and you’re physically superior than the other team, then it kind of takes some of the fun out of it. These are the games that you want to be a part of. These are the games that help determine championships, and it’s fun to be in.”
Offensively, the Eagles’ run game has led the way this year.
Senior running back Chris Singleton has rushed 81 times for 670 yards and 10 touchdowns, while sophomore Davidyione Bias has carried the ball 65 times for 392 yards and scored four touchdowns.
Sophomore quarterback Taylor Blanchard has completed 12 of 26 passes for 234 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions
Junior DeDe Gant leads the Eagles’ receivers with eight catches for 156 yards.
Additional reporting by www.theadvertiser.com/sports