Morgan City Tigers will host Gators for homecoming

The Morgan City High School Tigers will host South Terrebonne for homecoming this week.
The Tigers enter Friday’s contest after suffering two straight losses — a 39-14 defeat to Rayne and a 41-12 loss to Ellender in its District 7-4A opener a week ago.
This week’s opponent, South Terrebonne, enters the contest with a 6-1 mark, including a 2-0 record in district play, and a No. 10 ranking in the latest Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 4A Top 10.
“South Terrebonne’s real physical up front,” Morgan City head coach Scott Tregle said. “They’re not as big as Ellender but obviously right now they’re the front runner in the district. They’ve beaten Assumption and Vandebilt pretty easily so we’ll just have come out and play a real tough, hard-fought game and hopefully give ourselves a chance to win in the fourth quarter. That’s all we can ask of them.”
This season, the Gators have been led by Cristian Wallis, who is the team’s leading rusher and receiver. Wallis has rushed 94 times for 896 yards and nine touchdowns, while he has caught 16 passes for 270 yards and six more scores.
Tregle said Wallis is the “focal point” of the Gators’ offense.
“They get him the ball as much as they can,” Tregle said. “He’s their No. 1 weapon. … He runs the ball about 60 percent of the time. When they throw it, they throw it to him about 50 percent of the time.”
Other top rushers for the Gators, who run a wing-T offense but use some I-formation, are Payeson Verdin and Dylan Authement. Verdin has rushed for 439 yards on 51 carries with six scores, while Authement has carried the football 68 times for 272 yards and two scores.
The Gators are more than just a running team, though, as quarterback Tyeson Verdin has passed for 551 yards on 38 of 94 attempts with 12 touchdowns and one interception.
“They have a good quarterback. … He’s pretty accurate,” Tregle said.
Second to Wallis on the Gators’ receiving leaders is Davontavean Martin, who has caught 16 passes for 212 yards and four scores.
Up front, the Gators are physical on both the offensive and defensive lines. Tregle said the Gators run a 4-3 defense.
In last week’s loss to Ellender, the Tigers trailed just 13-6 at the half, but the Patriots outscored the Tigers 28-6 in the second half for the victory.
Ellender totaled 406 yards of offense in the win, including 373 on the ground.
Meanwhile, Morgan City was limited to 240 yards of offense.
The Tigers were led on the ground by running back Kevon Marsh, who carried 13 times for 148 yards and a score.
Through the air, quarterback Hector Tolento completed 2 of 6 passes for 71 yards with two interceptions.
Jaylen Jones was the Tigers’ leading receiver with a catch for 52 yards.
Through seven games, Marsh leads the Tigers with 89 carries for 604 yards and five touchdowns, while Jacolbi Francois has carried 60 times for 274 yards and two scores.
Jones also has contributed 25 totes for 211 yards and two scores.
Tolento leads the Tigers’ passers as he has completed 13 of 42 attempts for 293 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
Abram Hartley also has completed 17 of 26 attempts for 149 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
Jones leads the Morgan City receivers with 15 catches for 331 yards and four scores.
While the Tigers haven’t had good practices the last two weeks, Tregle said that early this week, the practices were good.
Homecoming this week also adds another element for the players, but Tregle said he discussed it with his team.
“I met with them Monday and they’re focused for the game,” he said Wednesday. “They know the game’s the most important thing. They’re having fun after practice, good clean fun. We haven’t had any issues yet. Hopefully that continues. They (are) taking it real well.”
Friday’s game will begin at 7 p.m.
Additional reporting by www.bayoupreps.com.