UPDATED: Berwick drops game to E.D. White

Staff Report
Patterson missed out on a chance to keep pace with the district leaders in Friday action, while Central Catholic won to set up Thursday’s clash at the top of District 8-1A.
St. James won a battle of second-half turnovers to beat Patterson, 21-7, while Central Catholic was beating Highland Baptist, 19-14, in New Iberia.
Berwick learned why E.D. White is atop the District 9-3A standings in a 37-7 loss.
Morgan City fell 41-7 to South Terrebonne on Thursday.
The big game this week will be Central Catholic against Vermilion Catholic of Abbeville in Morgan City on Thursday. Central is 6-2 and Vermilion Catholic is 6-3, and both have 4-0 records in 8-1A.
Morgan City High, 2-6, will be at home Friday against District 9-4A frontrunner Vandebilt Catholic, 5-2. Patterson, 6-3, will be at home Friday against Lutcher, 6-1.
Berwick, 2-6, will be at Donaldsonville.
Franklin, 4-3, will be at 4-5 Catholic-New Iberia; Centerville, 2-6, will host Hanson Memorial, 6-3; and West St. Mary, 3-6, will be at Delcambre, 4-4.
St. James 21,
Patterson 7
After a scoreless first half, St. James’ Kobe Brown caught touchdown passes of 21 and 18 yards from quarterback Brayden Williams, who also rushed for a 2-yard TD to give victory to the visitors.
In the first half, Patterson had the best scoring chance after a short St. James punt put the Lumberjacks at the enemy 34-yard line.
Quarterback Caylon Davis rushed to the 1 before a procedure penalty and a sack by St. James’ Jace Philip forced a 24-yard field goal attempt that sailed wide on a windy first cool night of fall.
The scoring, and the turnovers, began in earnest in the third quarter after St. James’ Zaylon Brown intercepted a Davis pass near midfield. That set up Williams’ 21-yard TD pass to Brown.
The teams swapped fumbles before Patterson’s Akai Keys blocked a St. James punt, setting up a 9-yard TD run by Davis. Jasper Russell’s kick tied the score 7-7 with 1:03 left in the third quarter.
A 43-yard kickoff return by Daniel Jupiter led to Williams’ 2-yard TD with 9:46 left in the game. After both teams stalled on ensuing drives, St. James’ Kaden Williams recovered a muffed punt in Patterson’s red zone. From there, Williams hit Brown with the 18-yard yard TD strike.
Alec Mahler was 3-for-3 on extra-point kicks.
E.D. White 37,
Berwick 7
A second-quarter play showed that this Friday night was not going to go Berwick’s way.
Already trailing 14-0, Berwick appeared to get a break when Berwick defender Zack Gonzales hit E.D. White running back Jace Gros near Berwick’s goal line and knocked the ball loose. But E.D. White receiver Grant Blouin swooped in to recover the football in the end zone.
Despite very vocal objections from the Berwick sideline, the touchdown was allowed to stand. The kick failed, but E.D. White was ahead 20-0.
E.D. White’s sophomore quarterback Jake Sternfels completed touchdown passes of 10 and 27 yards. Sternfels also rushed for a 5-yard TD, and Jeffrey Diedrich scored on a 2-yard run. A 29-yard field goal rounded out E.D. White’s scoring.
Berwick quarterback Cru Bella’s 7-yard TD run and Jude Vasquez’ kick put points on the board for Berwick with 1:14 left in the game.