'Jacks stomp Patriots for share of District 8-3A title

Patterson secured a piece of the District 8-3A title Friday by blitzing North Vermilion 62-17.
Patterson (7-2, 5-0) has won seven straight games since opening the season with consecutive losses to Class 5A teams.
On Friday, North Vermilion took a 3-0 lead on the first series of the game when standout Connor Dupuy kicked a 48-yard field goal with 9:26 remaining in the first quarter.
However, it was the Patriots’ lone lead of the night as Patterson’s Tristen Ausama broke free for a 47-yard touchdown run on the Lumberjacks’ third play from scrimmage.
Patterson added a 20-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sirbatian Charles to Mykel Jones with 6:02 left in the first to push the lead to 14-3.
Meanwhile, Patterson’s defense dominated North Vermilion’s offense with Charlie Kelly, Dominique Washington and Tyric Garrett, among others, stifling the run.
“Defensively, we have a good group that aren’t real big but they get after it,” Patterson Coach Chad Blanchard said. “We focus on trying to stop the run, and we do some things that some people think are kind of crazy because we put so many people in the box, but we have to do that to stop the run. So sometimes people are going to hit big passes against us, but we have to do that to win games.”
Patterson got another big pass play from their offense when Charles found dual-threat D.J. Jones on a 51-yard strike for a score. Christian Soria added the extra-point kick for a 21-3 lead with 3:21 left in the quarter.
North Vermilion got a pass over Patterson’s run-first defense when quarterback Dade Dieterich connected with Dupuy on a 75-yard pass and run for a touchdown with 2:59 left in the first quarter as North Vermilion cut its deficit to 21-10.
That momentum was short-lived, too, as Patterson answered with a 9-yard scoring run from Charles to push the lead to 28-10 in the first quarter. The senior carried nine times for 82 yards and a touchdown while he completed 12-of-18 passes for 233 yards and a season-high five touchdowns.
“We did a really good job of executing on offense,” Blanchard said. “We have a good group of skill guys, and our offensive line has gotten better as the season has gone on and our quarterback does such a good job of handling the offensive game plan.”
North Vermilion opened the second quarter with a fumble that D.J. Jones recovered and ran back 66 yards for a touchdown to extend the Patterson lead to 35-10.
Charles capped the half with touchdown passes to Mykel Jones (26 yards) and Nehemiah Augustus (eight yards) to push the Patterson lead to 49-10 at the break.
The ’Jacks took the second-half kickoff and marched downfield on a seven-play drive that was capped with Charles’ 34-yard touchdown pass to Brennan Gouaux with 9:38 remaining.
The highlight of the third quarter was when Patterson sent out the field-goal unit with 1:37 left. Soria came in to attempt a 31-yard field goal that he pushed a little left but had the distance.
North Vermilion added a touchdown after pulling off a 52-yard flea-flicker pass that the ’Jacks ran down at the 12-yard line.
“That’s the reason we can pack the box on defense, because we have athletes who run people down if they hit a pass on us,” Blanchard said.
Dylan Dent scored on a 12-yard run at the start of the fourth quarter for the Patriots, and Patterson led 56-17 with 11:40 to play.
Patterson made substitutions on both sides of the ball for the remainder of the quarter expecting to run out the clock.
But freshman Da’Jon Richard dominated on offense at running back, on defense at defensive back, and on special teams. He carried six times for 29 yards and a 15-yard touchdown to cap the scoring with 2:01 left. He also made two tackles on defense and had a big hit on the kickoff following his score.
“We’re hoping that Da’Jon is going to be really special here,” Blanchard said. “He plays on almost all special teams, and he’s played a lot of cornerback while he’s a backup running back. As long as he keeps working, he has a chance to be pretty good.”
Patterson will travel to Franklin Friday with the district championship on the line. Franklin (1-8, 0-5) lost to Class 5A East St. John Friday in non-district play 36-0.

NV PHS
First downs: 10 25
Rushing yards: 110 289
Passing yards: 240 245
Total yards: 350 534
A-C-Hi: 20-6-0 18-12-0
Fumbles-lost: 1-1 0-0
Penalties-yards: 4-25 6-35

Score By Quarters
NVHS 10 0 0 7 – 17
PHS 28 21 7 6 – 62

Scoring summary
First Quarter
NV: Connor Dupuy 48-yd. FG (9:26)

PHS: Tristen Ausama 47-yd. run (Christian Soria Kick) 8:25

PHS: Mykel Jones 20-yd. pass from Sirbatian Charles (kick good) 6:02

PHS: D.J. Jones 51-yd. pass from Charles (kick good) 3:21

NV: Dupuy 75-yd. pass from Dade Dieterich (kick good) 2:29

PHS: Charles 9-yd. run (kick good) 1:09

Second Quarter
PHS: D.J. Jones 66-yd. fumble return (kick good) 11:11

PHS: Mykel Jones 26-yd. pass from Charles (kick good) 8:30

PHS: Nehemiah Augustus 8-yd. pass from Charles (kick good) 3:11

Third Quarter
PHS: Brennan Gouaux 34-yd. pass from Charles (kick good) 9:38

Fourth Quarter
NV: Dylan Dent 12-yd. run (kick good) 11:40

PHS: Da’Jon Richard 15-yd. run (kick failed) 2:01

Patterson Individual stats
Passing
Sirbatian Charles, 12-18-0, 233 yds., 5 TDs.; Hector Tolento, 1-of-1, 12 yds.

Rushing
Sirbatian Charles, 9-82 yds., TD; Ausama, 7-79 yds., TD; D.J. Jones, 6-62 yds.; Augustus, 3-47 yds.; Da’Jon Richard, 6-29 yds., TD; Hector Tolento, 1-(-10) yds.

Receiving
D.J. Jones, 2-76 yds., TD; Mykel Jones, 3-67 yds., 2 TDs; Brennan Gouaux, 2-41 yds., TD; Augustus, 3-29 yds., TD; Ausama, 1-12 yds.; Aydin Leblanc, 1-12 yds.; Matthew Dardeau, 1-8 yds.