UPDATED WITH GAME STORY: Despite loss, PHS met goal by making playoffs

PATTERSON — A thick mist settled on the Patterson High School field during the third quarter of the Jacks’ first-round playoff game Friday against Donaldsonville. The fog wasn’t the evening’s only phenomenon.
Donaldsonville scored on a fake punt, returned a punt for a touchdown, swiped the ball from a Patterson rusher and returned it for a score, took a disputed interception 98 yards, and recovered an onside kick on the way to a 48-14 first-round playoff win in Class 3A.
Patterson coach Zachary Lochard said his staff views the miscues as an opportunity to teach.
“We’re happy we achieved our goal of making the playoffs. …," said the second-year coach. "We’re excited about the foundation we laid for the future.”
Donaldsonville moves on to a state quarterfinal matchup Friday at Church Point.
The best news for Patterson on Friday was the return of Caylon Davis, the junior quarterback who missed the regular season finale against Lutcher. Kyler Paul, Davis’ most dangerous receiver this season, had filled in at quarterback.
Davis’ injury was a turf toe that involved a fracture. He didn’t practice for two weeks.
The coaching staff didn’t learn until shortly before Friday’s game that the quarterback had been cleared by a doctor to play, Lochard said.
Davis’ brother Camron wasn’t as fortunate. An injury kept him out of Friday’s game, robbing Patterson of a multipurpose performer on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
Caylon Davis took over for Paul in the first half and hit him with a 32-yard scoring pass.
But Donaldsonville was both good and lucky.
Quarterback Treveyon Brown opened the scoring with a 66-yard TD pass to Jamarcus Miller. Brown hit Maliek Robertson with a 10-yard pass, and came back to Miller for an 8-yard TD after Donaldsonville recovered a Patterson fumble. Donaldsonville led 20-6.
Then the lightning struck.
As Patterson running back Mark Hilliard rushed to the Donaldsonville 48-yard line, defender Robert “Clark” Kent pulled the ball from Hilliard’s hands and took it 52 yards for the score and a 28-6 lead.
Davis brought Patterson back to within two scores in the final minute of the first half with a 24-yard TD pass to Howard Kinchen. And the Jacks recovered an onside kick for a chance to narrow the lead further.
More lightning: As the first-half clock ticked down, Davis hurled a pass to near the end zone. A Donaldsonville defensive back pushed a Patterson receiver to the ground from behind as Lawrence Forcell intercepted the pass and returned it 98 yards for a touchdown. The Patterson bench yelled in vain for an interference flag.
The touchdown gave Donaldsonville a 34-14 halftime edge.
Those who could peer through the dense fog in the second half saw Kent take a fake punt snap 46 yards for a score and Rayien Otis return a punt 50 yards for a TD to keep the game out of reach for Patterson.
Leading 40-14 in the third quarter, Donaldsonville recovered an onside kick, but the ensuing drive stalled.
Patterson finishes with a 6-5 record.