Centerville Bulldogs fall to Highland Bears 61-32

NEW IBERIA _ Bronte Griffin scored five times as the Highland Bears outlasted the Centerville Bulldogs 61-32 in the regular season District 7-1A finale here Friday with both teams earning a berth in the State Class 1-A playoffs.
Centerville (1-9, 1-6) opened the scoring against Highland Baptist (4-5, 4-3) on Matt Lebourgeois’ 8-yard run in the first quarter as the Bulldogs sailed to a 6-0 lead.
HBCS’ Brontre Griffin returned the ensuing kickoff for a 77-yard touchdown, enabling the Bears to tie the Bulldogs at 6-6.
A short time later, Griffin scored on a 72-yard jaunt before Matt Napier added the extra-point, giving the Bears a 13-6 advantage.
Early in the second period, Gage Burgess pulled the Bulldogs within striking distance of the Bears at 13-12 with a two-yard touchdown run.
Chandler Mixon sent HBCS outfront by a 20-12 margin with an 8-yard TD before Burgess again hit paydirt on a 2-yard touchdown as Centerville trailed the Bears 20-18 at the half.
Highland Baptist benefited from six second half touchdowns to pull away from the Bulldogs by a final score of 61-39.
Griffin _ who had touchdowns runs of 48, 11, 77 and 17 yards in the second half _ gave the Bears a 27-18 lead early in the third quarter on a 48-yard TD run.
Sandwiched in between Griffin’s TD jaunts of 48 and 11 yards was a 17-yard score from Ray Johnson as the Bears built a 40-18 cushion.
Centerville’s Lebourgeois broke free on a 12-yard score, helping Centerville trailed the Bears by a 40-24 margin.
Johnson set sail on a 72-yard score, giving Highland Baptist a 47-24 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Griffin added touchdown runs of 77 and 17 yards, sending the Bears out to a 61-24 lead in the fourth quarter.
Centerville’s Peyton Nash hauled in a 28-yard scoring strike from Burgess before De’andre Kinchen’s run on the two-point conversion as the Bulldogs fell to the Bears by a 61-32 margin.
Griffin finished with 13 carries for 306 yards and five touchdowns while Johnson had four carries for 107 yards.
Lebourgeois led the Bulldogs with 20 totes for 162 yards and a pair of TDs while Noah Verrett ran 17 times for 107 yards with Kinchen carrying 19 times for 105 yards with Burgess rushing 12 times for 18 yards and two TDs.
In passing, HBCS’ Alex Miller completed 2 of 5 passes for 60 yards while Centerville’s Burgess went 1 for 3 for 28 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Mekel Espinoza led Highland in receiving with two catches for 60 yards while Peyton Nash had one catch for Centerville for 28 yards and one touchdown.
Dravin Martin led the Bulldogs in tackling with six including one solo and six assists.
Other top tacklers for the Bulldogs included: Jason Guthrie, 5; Noah Verrett, 4; Reece Luke, 4; Logan Broussard, 3; Matthew Lebourgeois, 2; Morty Frederick, 2; Dorian Sam, 2; Andrew Cuvillier, 1; Ben Simpson, 1; Xavier Armstong, 1; Peyton Nash, 1; Rhaseed Vanderburg, 1 and Payton Dinger, 1.
The No. 30-seeded Centerville Bulldogs will travel to play the No. 3-seeded Kentwood Kangaroos on Friday in the first round of the LHSAA Playoff Bracket Class 1A.
The No. 16 Highland Baptist Bears will take on No. 1 Ascension Episcopal Blue Gators in the LHSAA Playoffs Bracket-Division IV on Friday.
HANSON 45, GUEYDAN 0
The Hanson Memorial Tigers closed out the regular season with a 45-0 District 7-1A victory over the Gueydan Bears here Friday at the GHS Stadium.
Hanson Memorial finished the with a the season with a 3-7 overall mark which includes a 2-5 league record.