October 22
October 22, 2007
Richard Weaver
October 24, 2007Vandebilt was well aware of Archbishop Shaw’s smothering defense.
But in the end, it was the Eagles’ offense it couldn’t crack.
Steffon Gray rushed for 225 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carriers to lead No. 2-ranked Shaw past the Terriers, 38-28, in a District 8-4A match-up Friday at Buddy Marcello Stadium
The loss dropped Vandebilt to 7-1 overall (2-1 in district).
“I’m not satisfied with the loss, but we’re OK,” said Vandebilt coach Mark King. “We’re still in tact as a team and we still have a lot of good things ahead of us.”
In spite of the defeat, the Terriers scored more points than Shaw had surrendered from all their opponents the entire season and could have scored more had it not been for costly penalties.
The most damaging came on Vandebilt’s first play of the game, when a Curtis Welch 74-yard touchdown run was called back because of an illegal shift.
Welch finished the game with 68 yards rushing, but had 110 called back in the first quarter.
Vandebilt was hit with nine penalties for 75 yards in the game.
“All the credit goes to Shaw – they fought hard for everything they got,” King explained. “We gave them way too much. There’s no doubt about it.”
And the Eagles capitalized.
Gray got Shaw on the board on their first possession when he broke free for a 49-yard run. The extra point put Shaw up 7-0.
Vandebilt quarterback Evan Mistich was picked off by Chad Boyd on the next series, which eventually set up a 19-yard field goal conversion by Derek Jambon.
Eagles quarterback Andrew Starkey increased his team’s lead to 17-0 in the second quarter when he found receiver Ron Walker on a 34-yard scoring strike.
Vandebilt finally answered back with four minutes remaining before the half when Mistich rolled out of the pocket and connected with Braden Eschete on a 10-yard touchdown pass. Eschete’s extra point cut the deficit to 17-7.
On Shaw’s next series, however, Gray darted through the middle 80 yards to the end zone to put the Eagles ahead 24-7 at the half.
“Gray is a heck of a football player, and they have a bunch of good players,” King said.
Still, there was no reason to panic.
“We were down 17, but we got them (Vandebilt players) in the locker room and explained that we were good enough to get 17 points, plus more,” King said.
Shaw distanced itself even further in the second half when Boyd ran back a kickoff 96 yards to increase the advantage to 31-7.
That’s when the Terriers started to really bite back.
Mistich orchestrated a 75-yard drive to set up Welch’s first touchdown from 1 yard out.
Then, late in the third, Ches Morrison recovered a mishandled punt to put Vandebilt in position for Welch’s second score of the game from 4 yards away.
With Eschete’s extra point, the Terriers trailed only 31-21 and had new life.
Nevertheless, the Eagles ultimately put the game away on their next series when Starkey hit a wide-open Pierre Hill along the sideline with a 65-yard pass, increasing the lead to 38-21 with 8:28 left in regulation.
Vandebilt recovered an onside kick to eventually set up a 23-yard field goal attempt by Eschete, but he missed.
Mistich later sprinted down the sideline 35 yards for a touchdown to bring the score to 38-28, but threw an interception in the final minute to end the late rally.
“I think we could have put up more than 28 points tonight,” Mistich said. “We’re not going to look at anything that happened in the game as an excuse. We know inside of us that we have the capability to be a championship team, and we’re really looking forward to coming out Friday and showing our capability again.”
Vandebilt travels to Morgan City Friday. Shaw travels to Ellender.
Assumption 33, South Lafourche 14
James Landry tossed three touchdown passes and Darius Bell rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown to lead the Mustangs (4-4, 2-2 in district) to victory.
Tarpons quarterback Brenner Callais finished with two touchdown passes in the loss.
South Lafourche (1-7, 0-5) travels to Patterson Friday.
Assumption hosts H.L. Bourgeois.
H.L. Bourgeois 21, Terrebonne 3
Jereme Lagarde rushed for nearly 200 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead the Braves (6-2, 5-0) to a comfortable win at Tom B. Smith Stadium that keeps them perfect in district play.
H.L. Bourgeois travels to Assumption Friday.
The Tigers host South Terrebonne.
Central Lafourche 27, South Terrebonne 19
The Trojans led 21-6 at the half and survived a late rally by the Gators to preserve a District 7-5A win.
Quarterback Neal Foret led Central Lafourche with 72 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
South Terrebonne signal-caller Blake Martin amassed more than 200 yards in the air and completed three touchdown passes to Mike Barba.
The Trojans host Thibodaux Friday. South Terrebonne travels to Terrebonne.
E.D. White 30, Thibodaux 14
Drey Trosclair completed touchdown passes of 5 and 49 yards and ran in one of his own to rally the Cardinals past Thibodaux.
Trovon Reed rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown for the Tigers (3-5).
E.D. White hosts Berwick Friday. Thibodaux travels to Central Lafourche.
Ellender 41, Belle Chasse 40 (OT)
Jesse Turner’s two-point conversion pushed the Patriots past Belle Chasses in a contest that required an extra session to decide.
Hosea Chatman completed 9-of-24 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns for Ellender (4-4, 2-1).
Blake Matherne completed four touchdown passes for Bell Chasse (5-3, 0-3).
The Patriots host Archbishop Shaw on Friday.
