Central Catholic survives Lusher comeback attempt

In about the final half minute of Central Catholic’s and Lusher Charter’s contest Friday, both teams headed toward a finish that appeared as if it could be eerily similar to last year’s last-second comeback victory by the Lions in Morgan City.
Lusher had the ball in Central Catholic territory, trailing the Eagles and threatening to score.
Lusher Charter, who had hurt the Eagles’ with its pass game in the second half, including the game’s final drive, elected to go with a field goal attempt on fourth down and 7 from the Eagles’ 24-yard line with 29.1 seconds remaining in the contest.
Brett Salas lined up for a 41-yard field goal, and while his attempt was headed in the right direction, it fell short, allowed the Eagles to run out the clock and avoid a repeat of last year’s tough loss.
In last year’s contest in Morgan City, Lusher came back to score the game winning touchdown with five seconds remaining for a 34-26 victory.
“It was a war of attrition,” Central Catholic coach Tommy Minton said after Friday’s game. “They lost some guys. They were cramping. We lost some guys. It was one of those deals where I thought we had guys step up, some subs step in and play hard. I thought the kids just fought and showed a lot of grit and did whatever it took to win.”
As big as the Eagles’ offense was, the defense also made some key stops.
Leading 35-27, Central Catholic stopped Lusher on fourth down at the Eagles’ 6 yard line in the fourth quarter. The Lions’ drive had begun at its own 4-yard line.
Later in the fourth quarter, after Lusher had cut the deficit to the final of 35-33, the Eagles’ stopped a potential game-tying 2-point run attempt.
“We found a way,” Minton said. “That’s what good teams do. They find a way, and that’s what winning teams do, find a way, so that’s what we did.”
Central Catholic’s Charlie Barron also recorded three interceptions on defense for the Eagles.
While the end of the contest was a nail biter, early on, it appeared as if Central Catholic would run away with the contest as the Eagles jumped out to a 23-0 lead with 8:15 remaining when Stefano Guarisco scored on a 2-yard run with 8:15 remaining in the second quarter.
However, Lusher stormed back to make the score 23-14 by halftime following Louis Landrum III’s 1-yard run and cut it to 35-33 with 8:42 remaining in the contest following Joshua Barney’s 5-yard run.
The Eagles put up points on their first four drives of the game as Guarisco scored from 4 yards out on Central Catholic’s opening drive, while Matthew Barbier connected on a 25-yard field goal on the Eagles’ second possession for a 10-0 lead with 1:09 remaining in the first quarter.
Guarisco again scored on an 8-yard run on the Eagles’ third possession, set up by a blocked punt that the Eagles took possession of at the Lusher 8-yard line.
Guarisco led the Eagles with 111 yards rushing on 29 carries and four touchdowns. He also led the Eagles’ receivers with two catches for 72 yards and a touchdown.
On the Eagles’ fourth possession, which ended in Guarisco’s 2-yard run with 8:15 remaining, both teams lost a player to ejections on back-to-back plays as Central Catholic’s Garret Leblanc was tossed on one play.
On the next play, Central Catholic’s Blake Byrne completed a 16-yard pass to Barbier. Following the play, Lusher Charter’s Owen Lampard was tossed.
Down 23-0, Lusher and quarterback Eli Poche began to heat up as he began connecting with his receivers.
Poche found Jaylen Stewart for a 5-yard reception at the 5:52 mark to cut the Eagles’ lead to 23-7.
After Darryl Lewis recovered a fumble by Central Catholic’s Samarick Paul after he hauled in a pass from Byrne and returned it 28 yards to the Central Catholic 15, Lusher needed just two plays to score.
Poche connected with Diego Griffin for a 15-yard completion and a first down at the Central Catholic 1 before Landrum recorded a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the Eagles’ lead to 23-14 with 1:13 remaining.
Both teams traded touchdowns on its first two drives of the second half as Central Catholic scored on an 11-yard run by Guarisco with 8:33 before Lusher responded with a 28-yard run by Barney to cut the deficit to 29-21 with 5:54 remaining.
The Eagles responded with a 63-yard pass from Byrne to Guarisco for a 35-24 lead at the 5:46 mark before Lusher’s Barney reeled off a 60-yard run for a touchdown at the 5:21 mark.
Lusher’s final touchdown came on a 5-yard run by Barney at the 8:42 mark. The Lions got great field possession on the drive after Barbier’s punt went out of bounds at the Central Catholic 32 after traveling just 9 yards.
Central Catholic (2-0) will return to action Thursday when it hosts E.D. White.

Central Catholic Boxscore
CCHS LCHS
First downs: 14 15
Rushing yards: 124 132
Passing yards: 190 236
Total yards: 314 368
Penalty yards: 8-75 7-31
Fumbles-lost: 2-1 1-0

Score By Quarters
CCHS 10 13 12 0 35
LCHS 0 14 13 6 33

Scoring Summary
First Quarter
CCHS: Stefano Guarisco 5-yd. run. (Matthew Barbier kick) 5:09

CCHS: Barbier 25-yard field goal 1:09

Second Quarter
CCHS: Guarisco 8-yd. run (Barbier kick) 11:11

CCHS: Guarisco 2-yd. run 8:15 remaining

LCHS: Eli Poche 5 yd. pass to Jaylen Stewart. (Brett Salas kick) 5:52

LCHS: Louis Landrum III 1 yd. run. (Salas kick) 1:13

Third Quarter
CCHS: Guarisco 11-yd. run. (2 pt. run fail)

LCHS: Joshua Barney 28 yd. run (Salas kick) 5:54

CCHS: Blake Byrne 63-yd pass to Guarisco (Pass failed) 5:46

LCHS: Barney 60-yd. run (Kick fail) 5:21

Fourth Quarter
LCHS: Barney 5-yd. run (Run fail) 8:42

CCHS stats
Passing
Blake Byrne 11 completed, 20 attempted, 1 INT, 190 yds. 1TD

Receiving
Stefano Guarisco 2-72 yds., 1TD; Matthew Barbier 3-44 yds; Samarick Paul 3-41 yds; Jalen Johnson, 2-28 yds; Tony Pennison 1-12 yds.

Rushing
Stefano Guarisco, 29-111 yds. 4TDs; Blake Byrne 9-13 yds.