Injury-plagued Berwick to face Franklin

After leading through three quarters, Berwick couldn’t hold on Friday against Jeanerette, losing 30-21. For the second week in a row, the Panthers were limited because of injuries.
BHS (1-4, 0-0 District 9-3A) lost quarterback Jeremy Boudreaux to injury early in the game. The Panthers went to running back Braden Billiot under center. Billiot led Berwick at quarterback for most of the final three quarters and had 163 yards rushing and a touchdown.
But BHS’ passing game was extremely limited.
Billiot was 1-of-7 for 26 yards and an interception while Boudreaux was 0-of-3 before leaving the game.
Billiot had not practiced all week due to an injury during Berwick’s homecoming game, Berwick head coach Craig Brodie said. “He was a game-time decision himself.”
Brodie said he was proud of how Billiot filled in at quarterback, even with the limited plays the Panthers could run due to Billiot not having practiced much passing.
Audwin Williams had the team’s lone catch for 26 yards. Williams has 19 catches for 307 yards and a TD while Kenan Jones had five catches for 84 yards and two scores.
“We were one-dimensional after he got in there, so they were keying on him,” the fourth-year coach said. “But he still gained a bunch of yards and made some good plays.”
Billiot has carried 56 times for 484 yards and three touchdowns. Jeremy Boudreaux, who had a 66-yard run early in Friday’s game, has carried 58 times for 238 yards and a TD.
Boudreaux will likely be a game-time decision Thursday against Franklin (0-5, 0-0 District 9-3A). He has completed 33-of-71 passes for 432 yards with six touchdowns and five interceptions.
“We have several players out this week again,” Brodie said. “It’s a tough situation to be in but we have just to go out and compete; it’s our first district game.”
Franklin was a 14-6 loser to Morgan City Friday. The Hornets rushed for 173 yards while passing for just 18 yards.
“They like run out of a full-house backfield and come right at you,” Brodie said. “And then they can spread you out and throw the ball which is hard to prepare for.”
Brodie, a former assistant coach at Franklin, said the Hornets haven’t changed much from last season defensively.
“They get into a five-man front and come hard off the edges because they’re athletic at the corners, so they can play you man-to-man. That’s not easy to prepare for with the number of injuries we have and a short week. But there are some things we can control like tackling. We missed too many tackles Friday, and we’ve worked on that all week,” he said.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Geisler Stadium.