Ellender takes advantage of MCHS turnovers in win

Ellender Memorial capitalized on four Morgan City turnovers en route to a 41-12 District 7-4A win Friday at South Terrebonne’s Memorial Stadium.
Morgan City (2-5, 0-1) couldn’t overcome a tumultuous week, which included several players being suspended for the first-half of the game.
“This is the worst we’ve played all year,” Morgan City head coach Scott Tregle said. “It started off with a bad week of practice. We had to sit some guys out because they didn’t show up Monday for practice, and it showed up in the game as we got beat in all aspects of the game. But, we’re trying to change the culture of the program, and this will only help us going forward.”
Ellender (2-5, 1-1) didn’t waste any time jumping on the shorthanded Tigers. Senior running back Justen Harris capped a six-play, 30-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run at the 3:29 mark of the opening quarter.
Morgan City’s lone bright spot Friday, senior running back Kevon Marsh, answered the Patriots’ score with a 69-yard touchdown dash early in the second quarter. Marsh carried 13 times for 148 yards and a touchdown to lead the Tigers’ rushing attack.
But Ellender found the end zone again when running back Jordan Gautreaux powered in from 10 yards out for a 13-6 Patriots lead about midway through the second quarter.
“We had a change in philosophy on offense,” Ellender Memorial head coach Terry Washington said. “We went from a spread team to more of a power run game, allowing our big linemen to push folks around. And that let us get our little scat backs in space to make some plays, and that worked for us tonight.”
Ellender rushed for nearly 400 yards in the game.
The Patriot’s took the first drive of the second half in for a score when quarterback Curtis Anderson powered in from 7 yards out. He also ran in the two-point conversion to push Ellender’s lead to 21-6 with 9:58 to play in the third quarter. Anderson was the Patriot’s leading rusher with 12 carries for 151 yards and two touchdowns.
Morgan City quarterback Hector Tolento answered by capping a 12-play, 68-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge at the 4:04 mark. The big play on the drive was a 52-yard completion to Jaylen Jones.
Tolento was 2-of-6 passing for 71 yards. He also hit Jacolbi Francois for a 19-yarder on the drive for the Tigers’ only completions in the game.
Kamil Green, however, returned the Morgan City kickoff 64 yards to set up another Ellender score.
Freshman running back Reginald Williams broke free for a 36-yard touchdown run to extend the Patriots’ lead to 27-12 with 3:36 left in the quarter. Williams had four carries for 71 yards and a touchdown, while Harris had nine carries for 51 yards and 2 touchdowns. Gautreaux added 42 yards on six carries and Green toted the ball four times for 57 yards.
Ellender added two more rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a 63-yarder by Anderson.
Morgan City returns to district play Friday at Tiger Stadium, hosting South Terrebonne (5-1).