Cecilia faces tough test; BB, SM look to rebound

The third week of the parish high school football season features a Thursday night game between St. Martinville and Eunice while Breaux Bridge travels to Rayne on Friday and Cecilia hosts Crowley.

Cecilia-Crowley
With the Bulldog offense generating 400 yards in each of Cecilia’s first two games, coach Terry Martin had to admit that his team “has been playing pretty well.”
And the defense hasn’t exactly been goofing off, allowing only six points so far this young season. “But we did give up a few big passes (against Norhtside),” he said after reviewing game film. “We were just a step out of position, so we need to work on that.”
He had special praise for sophomore Ryan Malbrough, who was credited with four tackles, four sacks and causing a fumble. “He’s a talented kid and is learning fast,” says Martin.
The Bulldogs continue to avoid any serious injuries although freshman kicker Tanner Olivier sustained a muscle strain during the game that kept him from attempting the PAT kick following Cecilia’s final touchdown. He was 5-for-6 up to that point. “I don’t think it’s anything serious, but we’ll have to wait and see,” says Martin.
Cecilia will host another 2-0 team in the Crowley Gents this Friday. The Acadia Parish team is coming off wins of 31-13 over Iowa and 32-3 over Westlake.
Gent QB Pate Broussard is a 3-year starter who connected on 10-of-13 passes for 211 yards and a couple of touchdowns against Westlake.
“And they’ve got a big (215-pound) tailback who really runs hard,” Martin added.
“Crowley has long been known for putting points on the board,” added Martin. “But their defense has really improved this year.”
The Friday meeting of these two teams ranks as one of the area’s top match ups in week 3.

SM-Eunice
St. Martinville literally let last Friday’s game slip out for their hands, fumbling six times and losing two while giving up a couple of pass interceptions on the way to a 21-12 loss to Assumption.
“We’ve just got to stop beating ourselves,” coach Vincent Derouen said Monday. He doesn’t hide the fact that he hates to play on a wet field. “But we need to work on getting our turnover ratio down,” he added.
Junior quarterbacks Dyllan Derouselle and Jared Davis each played one half. Derouselle had five fumbles and Davis one, and each was picked off once.
Derouen has no plan to alternate quarterbacks, explaining that Davis has been rehabbing a banged up knee suffered in the jamboree while Derouselle’s hand went numb after a hit to the elbow late in the half last Friday.
Senior Kain Pitre was a bright spot for the Tiger offense, rushing for 93 yards on 21 carries. “He’s learning to hit the holes,” says Derouen.
The Tiger squad has been decimated by a rash of relatively minor injuries that has kept several starters on the sideline. “It’s been especially bad on our offensive line,” says Derouen. “A key thing for us in the coming weeks will be to get everyone healthy.”
Derouen also sees the need to improve SM’s kicking game after missing an extra point and a 23-yard field goal.
The Tigers host Eunice in a Thursday night game this week. The Bobcats bring a 2-0 record after blowing out Opelousas 48-0 and Jennings 44-28.
“They’ve got a real good running attack,” says Derouen, “and they really attack you on defense. We’ll need to be good in the basics of blocking and tackling and try to quit playing from behind.”
Following the opening season game against Jeanerette that ended with a bench-clearing brawl, the St. Martinville penalty consisted of the banning of a non-faculty assistant coach who worked with the team’s linebackers.

BB at Rayne
Breaux Bridge’s offense was MIA last Friday against Notre Dame, struggling to just one first down and 52 net yards in a 20-0 loss.
“We just couldn’t get our running game going,” said coach Paul Broussard Monday. “And when we had to rely on the pass they really put the pressure on us.”
While the vaunted Tiger defense gave up 253 yards, the Pioneers chalked up 80 of those on just one touchdown run.
“We did some positive things on defense,” insisted Broussard. “But the unit had to stay on the field almost all night.”
Although Rayne is winless thus far, their first loss was a 27-26 overtime thriller to a strong Church Point team and last week the Wolves fell to talented St. Louis, 27-19.
“They’ve made the playoffs the past several years,” Broussard points out. “They’re a real good 0-2 team.”
The Wolves favor a strong running game. “They come right at you,” says Broussard.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” he adds. “We’ve got to get our running game going. We’ll probably have to make some personnel adjustments this week.”