Gators beat defending 4A title Holders

Drawing the defending state champion in the opening round of the playoffs is never an easy chore.

Don’t tell that to the South Terrebonne football team. They handled their difficult task just fine.

Thanks to dominant rushing offense and timely, opportunistic defense, the No. 10 Gators started quick and never let up, scoring a decisive 42-20 win over No. 23 Franklinton in the opening round of the Class 4A State Playoffs.

“That was one of the biggest concerns we had. That this was a well seasoned team,” South Terrebonne coach Richard Curlin said. “They may have lost some good kids from last year’s team, but this Franklinton team has played 10 playoff games in the past two years. … But I think we did a pretty good job controlling the possession and doing what we needed to do to move on. I’m proud of our kids.”

The win marked the Gators’ first playoff win since 2005.

The way they accomplished that feat was in true South Terrebonne fashion. Ball control and dominant rushing offense.

The Gators amassed 352 rushing yards against the Demons, gashing the 2010 state champions in the middle of its defense, most times getting six or seven yards per rush.

South Terrebonne quarterback Trevon Smith led the way, rushing for 114 yards on 15 carries. His most explosive weapon Jaquis Flores was just as good, racking up 93 yards on 15 carries.

Both players scored touchdowns in the win.

“The offensive line was just on fire,” Flores said.

“When they open up holes like that, everything goes good for me and the team.”

“We barely had to throw the ball this game,” Smith added with a smile. “There was no reason to. The line did such a good job blocking. We were moving the ball by running it.”

Senior Zachary LeBouef also added two touchdowns on the ground for the Gators, but it was his defensive magic that punched South Terrebonne’s ticket into the round of 16.

The standout linebacker recorded two interceptions in the win, including a 60-plus-yard pick that halted a promising drive for the Demons in the third quarter.

The score of the game was just 21-14 in the Gators’ favor at that time.

South Terrebonne never looked back after the game-changing play and pounded home three-straight touchdowns to put away the defending champions for good.

Smith, Flores and LeBouef are all seniors.

They all described their play Friday night as being pretty simple. They weren’t ready to end their high school careers.

“Go all out every play,” Flores said. “Just play every single play like it’s your last. We’re not ready to be finished yet.”

“We didn’t want it to end tonight,” Smith said.

With the win, South Terrebonne will shift from defending state champion to defending state runner up.

The Gators will travel to take on No. 7 Karr in the second round of the playoffs.

The 2010 Class 4A runners-up, the Cougars beat Warren Easton 13-0 in the opening round. Karr opened the season losing three of their first four games, but are currently rolling, entering Friday’s game with seven straight wins.

Curlin said he knows little about his foe, but added a quick assessment of the Cougars.

“They’re good,” Curlin said with a laugh. “That much I can tell you.” The Gators aren’t too shabby in their own right and will be ready to take their best shot at another prestigious 4A opponent.

“We’ll have another good week of practice to get prepared,” linebacker Devin Leger said. “We’ll be ready. We’ll do what we need to.

“We just want to keep playing one game at a time. For us with the seniors, we’ve been together our whole lives; some of us have played together as kids, even middle school and everything like that. We just want to keep it alive and go as far as we can.”

Elsewhere in the Tri-parishes

With a weak regular season schedule, a lot of critics wondered how Patterson would fare when challenged in the playoffs.

So far, so good, as the Jacks overcame their first adversity of the season, but still prevailed, topping Brusly 42-28 to reach the second round of the playoffs.

With the win, No. 15 Patterson will now travel to take on hands down its biggest foe of the season, No. 2 St. Charles Catholic.

The Jacks and Comets have been regarded as the two best teams in Class 3A all season.

The teams won’t get to meet in the dome and will instead duel it out for second-round supremacy.

Another local team who’ll taste the second round is No. 9 Central Catholic, who coasted to a 49-7 rout of No. 24 Varnado in the Class 1A bracket.

The Eagles will continue their Superdome quest in a road tilt with Elton, who moved to the second round with a 34-6 win over Oberlin.

Patterson, South Terrebonne and Central Catholic are all moving on, but Vandebilt and E.D. White couldn’t survive the opening round.

The No. 29 Terriers were pounced on by state championship contender No. 4 Breaux Bridge 46-0 in Class 4A.

In 3A, the No. 23 Cardinals had an upset bid within their grasp, but fell short in heartbreaking fashion, losing to No. 10 Bossier in a thrilling double overtime game.

The losses end the Terriers’ and Cardinals’ seasons with 5-6 and 4-7 records, respectively.