BB to challenge Pios, CHS, SM play at home

Breaux Bridge is on the road again this week, heading to Crowley to face Class 2A powerhouse Notre Dame while Cecilia and St. Martinville both play at home.
The Bulldogs host Northside with hopes of bouncing back from their loss to Comeaux while The ’Ville will see if it can maintain momentum against a tough Assumption team.

BB at Notre Dame
The Tigers pulled out a thrilling 35-28 overtime victory over Class 5A New Iberia in their season opener, but coach Terry Martin knows his team still has a way to go.
Breaux Bridge showed great perseverance in claiming the win. The Tigers jumped out to an early 21-0 lead only to see the Yellow Jackets battle back to knot the score late in the fourth quarter and send the game into overtime.
The Tigers had trouble stopping a bruising New Iberia running attack. “Their offensive line was even bigger than I though they were,” says Martin. “They just kept running and running the ball right at us.”
The Bridge countered with a very effective air attack as junior quarterback Julian Leon completed eight passes for 152 yards and three long touchdowns. Freshman receiver Dartravian Gregory had four catches for 112 yards and two of the scores.
“He’s very good at going to get the ball,” says Martin. “He’s got great potential, but he still has a lot to learn.”
Breaux Bridge managed only 39 yards on the ground with Leon accounting for the bulk of those. “Our offensive line did a good job of pass protection, but we really need to get our running game going,” says Martin.
Looking ahead to Notre Dame, Martin says the defending Division III Select state champs pose a big challenge. “As usual, they’re so fundamentally sound. They do everything right with very few mistakes.”
The Pioneers, who are coming off a 13-6 win over LaGrange, shut out Breaux Bridge 20-0 in 2015.

Cecilia vs. Northside
The Bulldogs matched up pretty well with a talented Comeaux team but for a couple of crucial areas.
The ’Dogs gave up three critical turnovers and were flagged 22 times for 171 yards of penalties.
“All those turnovers gave Comeaux some easy touchdowns,” coach Dennis Skains said Tuesday. “We felt about half of the penalties were bad calls, but that still left too many that we were guilty of. We’ve got to rectify those kind of mistakes.”
Quarterback Corey Williams is settling into his job quickly and completed 14-of-19 passes for 237 yards and three long touchdowns. He also contributed 84 yards rushing on 10 carries.
“He’s just gonna get better each week,” predicts Skains. “And the same goes for the whole team. It’s not that we’re a young team, but we don’t have a lot of experience. We’re looking for improvement every week.”
There’s some good news on the injury front with projected starting running back Devin Briscoe expected to return to action in another two or three weeks. He banged up his knee in pre-season practice and has been sidelined since.
The Bulldogs open their home schedule against Northside, a team that ran into a buzz saw while dropping their first game to Acadiana 56-14.

SMSH vs. Assumption
St. Martinville cruised past Jeanerette last Friday, opening a 40-0 halftime lead before turning the second half over to reserves.
The ’Ville’s starters put up some impressive number despite seeing limited action with QB Jared Davis tossing TD strikes of 41 and 78 yards. Wide receiver Deantre James had touchdown receptions of 20, 41 and 78 yards and broke a couple of big kick returns.
The only flaw in the game were bad snaps that aborted SM’s first two PAT kick attempts.But after that junior kicker Dylan Wilmore drilled his next four attempts.
The Tigers play at home again, hosting Assumption’s Fighting Mustangs Friday.
The Napoleonville team, which topped St. Martinville 21-12 last year, lost a nail-biter to Donaldsonville (30-27) in its opener.