Eagles roll past Gueydan

Central Catholic rolled past Gueydan, 41-14, in its District 7-1A regular season finale Friday.
The Eagles scored touchdowns on five of six first-half possessions en route to a 35-0 halftime lead.
Central Catholic added its final touchdown on its first drive of the second half, while Gueydan (0-10 overall, 0-6 in district) scored touchdowns on its final two possessions of the game.
The Eagles (8-2, 5-1) were able to play a lot of reserves in the second half in the win.
In limited action, Central Catholic running back Stefano Guarisco rushed five times for 103 yards and two touchdowns. His last carry of the night came on a 66-yard score with 9:53 remaining in the second quarter.
Quarterback Blake Byrne also had a solid evening in his return to the field as he completed 7 of 11 passes for 159 yards with four scores.
Jalen Johnson, Matthew Barbier, Samarick Paul and Tony Pennison all caught a touchdown pass. Johnson led the Eagles with four catches for 91 yards, while Barbier had one catch for 51 yards.
Chris Singleton also had 13 carries for 60 yards for the Eagles.
“We were able to play a lot of people, and we spread the ball around,” Central Catholic coach Tommy Minton said. “A lot of people got to touch the ball, and I had a couple seniors get some touchdowns tonight that have been working hard and got their first touchdowns so a lot of good things happened. You end the season 8-2 and going into the playoffs on a little bit of a high.”
Defensively Friday, Central Catholic limited Gueydan to 142 yards, all on the ground.
Central Catholic got prime field position after recovering a Gueydan fumble at the Bears’ 25-yard line on their second play from scrimmage.
The Eagles needed just one play to score, as Guarisco took a handoff and raced 25 yards for a touchdown. Barbier, who finished 6 of 7 on extra point attempts, converted the point-after attempt for a 7-0 Central Catholic lead.
After stopping Gueydan on its second drive, Central Catholic scored its second touchdown after just five plays when Byrne connected with Paul for a 7-yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 Central Catholic lead with 6:46 remaining in the first quarter.
The big play on the drive was a 31-yard completion from Byrne to Johnson.
Gueydan had its most successful drive of the first half on its next possession as the Bears moved the ball from their own 20 to the Central Catholic 22 before the drive stalled.
Central Catholic added three second-quarter touchdowns via a Guarisco 66-yard run with 9:53 remaining, a 21-yard pass from Byrne to Johnson with 7:24 remaining, and a 51-yard pass from Byrne to Barbier with 2:28 remaining for a 35-0 Central Catholic lead.
In the first half, the Eagles’ defense surrendered just 56 yards of offense to Gueydan.
The second half moved at a brisk pace as a running clock was utilized.
The Eagles scored their lone second-half touchdown on their first drive when the squad concluded a seven-play, 62-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Byrne to Pennison for a 41-0 advantage.
Gueydan added scores on its next two possessions, a 3-yard run by Spencer Broussard and a 2-point run by Jon Mayer at the 9 minute mark and a 9-yard run by Malik Criner after Gueydan returned an interception of backup quarterback Tyler O’con in Gueydan territory to the Central Catholic 18. O’con ran down the defender on the play for the stop.
Gueydan concluded its season with Friday’s loss.
Central Catholic, the No. 3 seed in the Division IV (Class 1A select) playoffs, will begin postseason play Friday when it hosts No. 14 seed Delhi Charter in a 7 p.m. contest.
With having to overcome injuries this season, the Eagles were able to put in some new looks on offense, something Minton said that will give teams more to prepare for in the postseason.
“We got some people back and actually, when you have to overcome injuries, it helps you build some depth and give you some things that people are going to have to work on now going into the playoffs,” Minton said. “I feel good about where we’re at. We’re finally back healthy, just about fully healthy, and let’s go get in the playoffs and get on a run.”