2 locals survive opening round

Friday night will mark the second round of the football playoffs around the state of Louisiana.

Just two local teams will be part of the festivities – each competing in Division II.

Of the six Houma-Thibodaux area teams who qualified for postseason, just E.D. White and Vandebilt survived the opening round this past Friday around the state. The Cardinals trumped Loyola, while the Terriers beat Lusher, wins that move each to the quarterfinals in Division II.

Thibodaux, Central Lafourche, South Lafourche and CCA weren’t as lucky, each falling by multiple touchdowns in their respective postseason brackets.

TROJANS, TIGERS FALL IN CLASS 5A

Neither Central Lafourche nor Thibodaux had any luck in the Class 5A State Playoffs.

The Trojans fell 55-7 to Acadiana, giving the Wrecking Rams their llth-straight playoff victory. The Trojans battled the two-time defending Class 5A for about a quarter, trading touchdowns with Acadiana on each team’s opening possession to make it a 7-all tie late in the first quarter.

But the Wrecking Rams battled back, using their beastly running game to explode to a 14-7 lead after one and a 35-7 advantage at halftime.

“We knew going in that we needed to be almost perfect to win the game,” Central Lafourche coach Keith Menard said. “We just didn’t get it done. The kids competed. We played as hard as we could from start to finish. They got a few breaks, and they played really well on top of that. They’re a heck of a team. They’re the defending champions for a reason.”

In the second half, the Trojans couldn’t reverse their luck, giving up two more scores to make it 49-7. In the fourth, the Wrecking Rams added another to push the game to its final margin.

Menard said he’s proud of the way his team played in defeat. He added that he will forever be grateful to this year’s senior class for getting the team to the playoffs and overcoming the consecutive four-win seasons the team had posted in years past.

“They set it as their goal and they made it happen,” Menard said. “If we make it again next year, we owe some debt of gratitude to those kids, too, because they will have helped to show us the way.”

While Menard lamented a tough draw, Thibodaux’s ‘what if’ scenario surrounds big plays. The Tigers fell to Mandeville 41-24 in a game that was close for three quarters.

Mandeville traded several big gainers with the Tigers throughout the game, but just ended up making more of them on the night to secure the win.

“It was a game of big plays, and we just didn’t avoid them well enough,” Thibodaux coach Chris Dugas said. “That, and they won the field position battle. Their kicker boomed a touchback every, single time and made us go 80 yards. That was a big factor in the game.”

The Tigers led 24-21 early in the third quarter after quarterback Trey LeBlanc found Amik Robertson on a long strike to take the lead.

But Mandeville dominated the final 23 minutes of the game, scoring 20-straight points to secure the victory.

Dugas said he’s proud of his team’s effort.

“We never quit – all season we never had a lack of effort,” Dugas said.

DIVISION II NETS 2 WINNERS

Vandebilt Catholic rode its horse to the quarterfinals in Division II.

The Terriers beat Lusher 21-14 on Friday night, solidifying a spot in the final eight in the field, which features private schools with Class 3A and 4A enrollments.

Sophomore halfback Brennan Rogers was a huge reason for the success, rushing 34 times for close to 250 yards with all three of the team’s touchdowns in the win.

“He’s a powerful back with a ton of heart,” Vandebilt coach Jeremy Atwell said. “We’ve had injuries there, but he’s been really big for us when we’ve needed him most.”

Never was that more apparent than on Friday night.

The Terriers never trailed on Friday night, leading 7-0 and 14-7 in the opening half. But for every score Vandebilt made, Lusher had an answer, tying the game both at 7-all and then 14-all, which was the game’s halftime score.

Rogers’ final score came late in the third, and Vandebilt’s defense did the rest, shutting out Lusher for the entire fourth quarter to seal the win.

The Terriers meet No. 1 University in the quarters – a team regarded by many as one of the best in the entire state of Louisiana.

While Vandebilt rode its one horse to pay dirt, E.D. White rode three powerful runners past Loyola to advance.

The Cardinals beat Loyola 35-17 on Friday, thanks to a three-headed rushing attack of Nik Shanklin, Brandon Legendre and Jeremy Rounds, who helped accumulate more than 300 yards rushing in the effort.

E.D. White controlled the game throughout, taking a 28-10 halftime lead and then never ceasing control in the second half.

The victory sets up a quarterfinals date between the Cardinals and St. Thomas More – the No. 2 team in Division II.

Like University, STM is one of the favorites in Division II.

TARPONS, CCA BOW OUT IN ROUND 1

While E.D. White and Vandebilt celebrated wins, South Lafourche and CCA tasted the agony of defeat.

The Tarpons fell to Bastrop in Class 4A, falling to the powerful northern Louisiana foe 38-0 on Friday night.

South Lafourche reached the red zone on all three of their opening-half possessions, but netted zero points, which allowed Bastrop to go up 24-0 at halftime. In the second half, the story was the same with the Tarpons netting several snaps in Rams territory that came up empty.

The Tarpons season ends with a 6-5 record.

In Division IV, CCA’s fate was similar, as the Lions fell 40-8 to Vermilion Catholic.

The loss ends the Lions’ season with a 6-5 record.

A total of six local football teams made the prep playoffs. Of that total, just two survived the opening round. One of those was Vandebilt, which won 21-14 against Lusher.

COURTESY