District 7-4A is wide, wide open

Local coaches predicted it all summer and throughout the preseason.

And they appear to have been right: District 7-4A appears to be as wide open and evenly matched as ever.

Friday night marked the opening game of district play for the area’s Class 4A district and a week of games have done almost nothing to untangle the parity that’s taken over the league.

Heading into Week 5, Vandebilt, South Lafourche and E.D. White are the teams who started on the right foot with victories, but other challengers are chasing in hot pursuit, including Ellender, South Terrebonne and Assumption, who is the two-time reigning district champions.

“Every week is a battle,” Ellender football coach David McCormick said on Saturday morning. “Every Friday you know that you’re going to be up against someone who is hungry and who is really going to test you. In this league, that’s the challenge – consistency. Everyone can beat everyone else. It’s consistency. Who can play the best for the longest period of time.”

Right now, it looks like Vandebilt Catholic is the team to beat in District 7-4A, but injuries are starting to pile up for the Terriers.

Vandebilt is 4-0 on the season and they’ve climbed all the way to No. 6 in the Class 4A state rankings.

But the Terriers have been vulnerable early in games, something that coach Jeremy Atwell would like to fix.

Vandebilt has not scored on an opening drive all season, according to Atwell. And on Friday night, the team dug itself a deep hole, falling behind South Terrebonne 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The Terriers rallied back and scored a comfortable victory, but Atwell said he wants his team to be ready to play the full 48 minutes the rest of the season.

Vandebilt has also battled the injury bug in recent weeks. The Terriers lost junior Drew Rios early in the season and Brennan Patterson is also out with a severe injury. On Friday, the team was without halfback Michael LeCompte, as well.

In LeCompte’s absence, Brennan Rogers rushed more than 30 times for more than 200 yards, which helped take pressure of junior quarterback Andrew Robison, who is one of the top players in the area.

“He’s really stepped up big,” Atwell said of Rogers. “He’s seeing the holes, hitting them hard and making things happen.”

If the Terriers are the top team in the league, their biggest rivals just may be the top challengers to the throne.

E.D. White appears to be a power this season, owning a 3-1 record with the only loss being a triple-overtime defeat against state powerhouse St. James.

On Friday, the Cardinals played their first-ever game in the new league after stepping up in class in the offseason.

The result was a stunner – a 49-13 victory over Assumption, who has won the district each of the past two seasons.

E.D. White attacks opponents offensively with a diverse attack which features quarterback Brandon Legendre and halfback Nik Shanklin.

But the team is also getting quality play from both its offensive and defensive lines, which is helping to spark the early-season surge.

Cardinals coach Chris Bergeron said before the season that he thought play at the line of scrimmage would be crucial to his team.

So far, they’ve met the challenge.

“We like our linemen,” Bergeron said. “We think that we have a chance to be as physical of a team as we’ve been in the past few years. I think if we can stay healthy and keep developing there, we should have a chance to compete and have a really successful season.”

Also a threat is South Lafourche, which sits at 2-2 after beating Ellender 28-25 on Friday night

The Tarpons have played a bit of an interesting season so far. They’ve trailed in the second half of all four of their games, but also led in the second half of three of their four games, as well.

On Friday night, the Tarpons overcame an early 17-7 hole and battled past Ellender, using 14-straight third-quarter points to take the lead and secure the win.

South Lafourche has an asset that not many teams in the area has – a true superstar player.

Halfback Corbin Allen is a monster in the backfield – easily one of the top players in the area.

Against both Central Lafourche and Thibodaux, he rushed for more than 200 yards with multiple scores.

On Friday against Ellender, Allen had 187 yards with three scores.

He gives life to a team which is also getting huge defensive contributions from Jeremy Rogers, Drake Billiot, Shane Billiot, Rolando Garcia, Jake Galjour, DaMarcus Caine and Marquis Francis, among others on defense.

South Lafourche also has a weapon in kicker Jesse Torres, who is perfect in both extra points and field goals this season.

“I think the challenge for our team right now is to compete for all four quarters,” Tarpons coach Blake Forsythe said. “I think we did a good job of that against Ellender, but at times this season, that effort and the intensity hasn’t always been there.”

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Below is the district schedule for week 5’s games.

South Terrebonne @ Assumption

E.D. White @ Morgan City

South Lafourche @ Vandebilt

Central Lafourche @ Ellender (non-district game)

District 7-4A footballCASEY GISCLAIR | THE TIMES

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