Ascension Catholic upsets CCHS, 28-21

Minutes after his team’s 28-21 upset loss to Ascension Catholic Thursday, it didn’t take Central Catholic Coach Tommy Minton long to diagnose what happened, and it wasn’t pretty.
“They played harder than us, and that starts with me,” he said. “I’m the head coach, and it goes down from there, but we didn’t show up and play like we were capable of playing because we (did) too much standing around.”
The loss was the second straight for the Eagles and the second by seven points.
While last week’s loss was to a higher-classification opponent, Class 2A Opelousas Catholic, Thursday night’s defeat was to another Class 1A opponent. Central Catholic entered Thursday’s game ranked No. 5 in the latest Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 1A poll, while Ascension Catholic received 15 votes this week.
Thursday’s loss was the second in which the Eagles had a chance for a win late.
“What that means is if we would have played with enough effort early on, we could have went ahead and done what we were supposed to do and win the ball game,” Minton said of the team still being in the ballgame late in Thursday’s contest.
Trailing 20-7 in the fourth quarter, the Eagles (1-2) rallied for a touchdown when quarterback Blake Byrne connected with wide receiver Greg Leger on a long pass completion that Leger then took to the end zone with 9:18 remaining. Drake Angeron’s extra point cut the Central Catholic deficit to 20-14.
While the Eagles recovered a fumble at the Ascension Catholic 32 on the Bulldogs’ ensuing kickoff return, Byrne was intercepted shortly after by Tre Medine.
Ascension Catholic (2-1) cashed in on the turnover with a clock-consuming drive, all on the ground, that drained approximately six minutes off the clock. The drive featured a mixture of runs by the Bulldogs’ running back duo of Jamar Barber and Jai Williams.
Williams capped the drive with a 3-yard run with 1:46 remaining, while a two-point conversion run upped the Bulldogs’ advantage to 28-14.
The Eagles responded in about a minute’s time using two big pass plays from Byrne to Leger, a 40-yard completion that Leger caught after initially bobbling and a 15-yard touchdown pass three plays later with 41 seconds remaining. Angeron’s extra point cut the deficit to 28-21.
However, Ascension Catholic recovered the Eagles’ onside kick and Javon Yarbrough knelt twice to end the game.
Early on, Central Catholic’s Isaiah Skipper recovered a Barber fumble at the Eagles’ 15 to stall Ascension Catholic’s opening drive of the game.
The Eagles converted the turnover into points, moving 88 yards in 14 plays before Chris Singleton concluded the drive with a 4-yard run with 3:35 remaining in the opening quarter. Angeron’s extra point was good for a 7-0 Central Catholic lead.
Singleton led the Eagles with 16 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown.
Ascension Catholic responded on its ensuing possession with a lengthy drive. The Bulldogs moved 59 yards in 13 plays before Barber scored on a 2-yard run with 9:06 remaining. Ascension Catholic’s two-point pass failed and Central Catholic led 7-6.
Ascension Catholic added another touchdown less than four minutes later when Williams broke a 28-yard run with 5:41 remaining in the half for a 12-7 Ascension Catholic lead.
Williams led the Bulldogs with 119 yards on 16 carries with two scores, while Barber had 90 yards on 23 carries with a score. Williams also had a 47-yard reception on a nifty play in which the ball exchanged hands multiple times in the backfield before Yarbrough connected with Williams.
Ascension Catholic totaled 279 yards of offense (217 rushing and 62 passing).
Central Catholic moved the ball down the field on its final possession of the half, but on first-and-goal from the Bulldogs’ 2-yard line with 10 seconds remaining, Bailey Badeaux was stopped a yard short of the end zone. The Eagles were unable to get another play off before the half ended.
“We got some people in position to make blocks, and they (Ascension Catholic) run right through the blocks,” Minton said of the last play of the half. “They played it harder than us, and it wasn’t guys that were more talented than us that did it. It was guys that just wanted to make a play more than we did.”
Central Catholic had 292 yards of offense (130 rushing and 162 passing).
Byrne completed 9 of 18 passes for 162 yards with one interception and two touchdowns.
Leger had four catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns, while Samarick Paul had five catches for 36 yards.
Central Catholic will return to action Sept. 22 when it opens District 7-1A play at home against Lafayette Christian in a 7 p.m. contest.

CCHS ACHS
First Downs: 16 14
Rushing yards: 130 217
Passing Yards: 162 62
A-C-HI: 19-11-1 2-2-0
Total Yards: 292 279
Penalties-yds: 6-35 3-20

Score by Quarter
CCHS 7 0 0 14 -- 21
ACHS 0 12 8 8 -- 28

Scoring Summary
First Quarter
CCHS: Chris Singleton 4-yd. run. (Drake Angeron kick) 3:35

Second Quarter
ACHS: Jamarr Barber 2-yd. run. (Pass failed) 9:06

ACHS: Jai Williams 28-yd. run. 5:41

Third Quarter
ACHS: Javon Yarbrough 15-yd. pass to Kebori Hunter. (Barber run) 2:43

Fourth Quarter
CCHS: Blake Byrne 66-yd. pass to Greg Leger. (Angeron kick) 9:18

ACHS: Williams 3-yd. run. 1:46

CCHS: Byrne 15-yd. pass to Leger. (Angeron kick) 0:41.

Central Catholic Individual Stats
Rushing
Chris Singleton, 16-104, 1 TD; Bailey Badeaux, 7-19; Blake Byrne, 6-8; Samarick Paul, 1-5; Sydney Holder, 1-(-2); DeDe Gant, 1-(-4).

Passing
Blake Byrne, 11-18-1, 162 yds., 2 TDs

Receiving
Greg Leger, 4-121, 2 TDs; Samarick Paul, 5-36; Chris Singleton, 1-4; Bailey Badeaux, 1-1.