Mistakes doom Tigers in loss to South Lafourche

Miscues by Morgan City combined with big plays by South Lafourche combined to sink Morgan City in a 34-2 loss to South Lafourche in both teams’ District 7-4A opener Friday.
While the score was lopsided, Morgan City mistakes gave South Lafourche plenty of opportunities to punt points on the board and the Tarpons cashed in.
“It shouldn’t have been 34-2, and like I told them, if we’d have done everything we (were) supposed to do, it would have been (a) closer game,” Morgan City Coach Scott Tregle said. “We would have had a chance.”
Morgan City’s offense struggled too, as the Tigers were limited to just 129 total yards (31 rushing and 98 passing) and three first downs.
As for a lack of run game, Tregle said South Lafourche was more physical on the line of scrimmage.
“We ran a few good plays, and then we felt we could throw the ball on them, which we could, but we (are) just overthrowing the passes (while) running good routes,” he said. “I thought we got pass interfered once or twice, but they were kind of holding us on the line a little bit and throwing our routes off. … We just got a little outmanned, but I thought if we didn’t make all those mistakes, we would have had a closer chance to win.”
The miscues began early for Morgan City (4-2 overall, 0-1 in district) as after the Tigers were backed up near their goal line with Lloyd Singleton back to punt on their first drive on a fourth-and-21 situation from the Morgan City 7, the senior tucked the ball and ran, trying to secure a first down.
He fumbled after an eight-yard gain, and while teammate Andre Dragna recovered the loose football at the Morgan City 19, South Lafourche took over on downs.
Three plays later, the Tarpons reached the end zone on a Corbin Allen one-yard run.
South Lafourche’s Brannon Lee converted the extra point for a 7-0 Tarpon lead with 9:10 remaining in the opening period.
When asked about the fake punt, Tregle said it wasn’t called, but Singleton, a first-year player, thought he could make the play.
The score remained the same until the second quarter when South Lafourche, who originally would have received the ball at their own 43, got 15 more yards tacked on when Morgan City’s Clifton Escort tackled a Tarpon signaling a fair catch.
From there, the Tarpons moved 42 yards in seven plays, capped by a 31-yard quarterback keeper on a third-and-nine situation by South Lafourche quarterback Jaydon Cheramie for a touchdown.
Lee’s extra point was no good, but South Lafourche led 13-0 with 7:30 remaining in the second quarter.
Cheramie led the South Lafourche offense as he rushed 10 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns, while he completed 11 of 20 passes for 167 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Morgan City had its best drive on its next offensive possession as Singleton caught passes of 22 and 25 yards from Abram Hartley to help the Tigers move from their own 29 yards line to the South Lafourche 20.
While Hartley ran for a 10-yard gain on third-and-12, setting up a fourth-and-2 situation for Morgan City at the South Lafourche 12, following a Morgan City timeout, Singleton couldn’t secure Hartley’s fourth-down pass in the end zone and South Lafourche took over.
However, the Tigers didn’t come away quite empty as three plays later on third-and-15 from the South Lafourche 7, Morgan City defensive lineman Gage Gros sacked South Lafourche backup quarterback David Williford in the end zone for a safety with 2:18 remaining.
The momentum the Tigers gained was short-lived, however, as on the ensuing free kick to Morgan City, the Tigers’ Ethan Scioneaux moved in to catch the kick before moving away.
However, the ball hit him, and South Lafourche (3-3, 1-0) recovered, taking over at the Morgan City 47.
While South Lafourche was penalized five yards for an illegal man downfield on first down and Cheramie was sacked for a 12-yard loss on second down, Allen gained eight yards on third down before Cheramie connected with a wide open Chandler Lafort on a 56-yard catch and run to the end zone with five seconds remaining.
Lee’s extra point made it 20-2.
While the Tigers forced South Lafourche to punt on its first drive of the third quarter, the Tigers were flagged for roughing the kicker on the play, allowing the Tarpons to continue their drive.
They converted a first down, and eventually a touchdown on a 12-yard run by Cheramie with 5:44 left. Lee’s extra point extended the South Lafourche advantage to 28-2.
South Lafourche added a final touchdown one-play into the fourth quarter when Cheramie connected with Kyle Angeron on a 12-yard pass with 11:43 remaining.
Lee’s extra point provided the final margin.
Angeron led the South Lafourche receivers with six catches for 64 yards and a touchdown, while Lafort had one reception for 56 yards and a score.
On the ground, Allen also added eight carries for 57 yards and one touchdown.
South Lafourche totaled 358 yards of offense (191 rushing and 167 passing).
For Morgan City, Hartley competed five of 15 passes for 98 yards.
Singleton had two catches for 47 yards, while Kalen Hillen had one reception for 47 yards.
Morgan City will continue District 7-4A action this week when it hosts Ellender in a 7 p.m. contest.
Asked what he hopes the Tigers take away from Friday’s game to get better for the rest of their district season, Tregle said, “I hope they take away that this district we (are) playing in, we have a chance to win some games, and they have to get that in their mind that we can compete. We hadn’t been able to do that the last couple years, and they have to believe in themselves.”

MCHS SLHS
First downs: 3 16
Rushing yards: 31 191
Passing yards: 98 167
Total yards: 129 358
A-C-HI: 15-5-0 22-11-1
Punts-Avg.: 4-36.5 1-26
Penalties-yards: 6-62 12-80
Fumbles-lost: 4-1 0-0

Score By Quarters
MCHS 0 2 0 0
SLHS 7 13 7 7

Scoring Summary
First Quarter
SLHS: Corbin Allen 1-yard run. (Brannon Lee kick) 9:10

Second Quarter
SLHS: Jaydon Cheramie 31-yard run. (Kick fail) 7:30

MCHS: Safety (Gage Gros tackles Nicholas Williford in end zone) 2:18

SLHS: Cheramie 56-yard pass to Chandler Lafort. (Lee kick) 0:05

Third Quarter
SLHS: Cheramie 12-yard run. (Lee kick) 5:44

Fourth Quarter
SLHS: Cheramie 12-yard pass to Kyle Angeron (Lee kick) 11:43

MCHS Individual Stats
Rushing
Trey Derouen, 4-13 yds.; Kedric Scott, 6-13 yds.; Lloyd Singleton, 1-8 yds; Ethan Scioneaux, 3-5 yds.; Team, 1-4 yds; Malik Phillips, 1-0 yds.; Makye Richard, 2- (-3) yds; Abram Hartley, 4- (-9) yds.

Passing
Abram Hartley, 5-15-0, 98 yds.

Receiving
Lloyd Singleton, 2-47 yds.; Kalen Hillen, 1-47 yds.; Ethan Scioneaux, 1-6 yds; Malik Phillips, 1-(-2) yds.