Patterson routs E.D. White, 42-14

The Patterson Lumberjacks put a strangle hold on the District 9-3A championship and a playoff berth Friday with a decisive 42-14 win against longtime rival E.D. White.
“I thought they were ready to play all day,” Patterson head coach Chad Blanchard said. “They had that look in their eyes. They knew how important this game was, and they came out motivated to win.”
Patterson (5-3, 2-0) won its fifth consecutive game after losing three consecutive to start the season.
Patterson opened Friday’s district showdown with a seven-play, 60-yard drive, which quarterback Sirbatian Charles capped with an 11-yard touchdown run at the 9:14 mark of the first quarter.
E.D. White (5-3, 2-1) answered right away, however, with a 12-play, 70-yard drive.
During the drive, the Cardinals pulled off a trick play on fourth down when Cardinals’ running back Jeremy Rounds tossed a 15-yard pass to quarterback Benjamin Sposito for a first down at Patterson’s 15-yard line. Rounds finished the drive with a 5-yard run to tie the game at 7 with 2:16 to play.
The highly anticipated showdown was going as expected before Patterson exploded in the second quarter.
Daylon Charlot took an E.D. White punt and raced 58 yards to set up the Lumberjacks at the Cardinals’ 24-yard line. Running back Tristen Ausama darted 18 yards for a score to give the ’Jacks a 14-7 lead at the 6:52 mark.
On the ’Jacks’ kickoff, special teams’ terror Malik Bass smashed the Cardinals’ kick returner, who fumbled and Dontre Nicholas recovered for Patterson at the E.D. White 29-yard line.
Charles went to the air on third down and hit Charlot with a touchdown strike at the 5:51 mark. Christian Soria’s third PAT kick gave Patterson a 21-7 lead.
Charles was 7-of-13 passing for 80 yards and a touchdown. The first-year starter has completed 66-of-120 passes for 1,174 yards with 17 touchdowns and four interceptions this season.
Ausama outran E.D. White’s defense for a 76-yard score on Patterson’s next possession to extend the lead to 28-7 with 3:32 to play in the half.
Ausama carried 11 times for 152 yards and three touchdowns to spur the Patterson offense.
The junior has carried 115 times for 852 yards and 14 touchdowns this season. He averages 106.5 yards per game.
“It’s a complement to our whole team when he does well,” Blanchard said. “We have good skill guys on the outsides to where teams put extra players in coverage because they’re scared of them. That leaves fewer people in the box to stop the run, and we’re pretty good upfront, so when he runs wild, it’s a team effort.”
Standout linebacker Nehemiah Augustus put the game out of reach with a sack to force E.D. White to pass, and then he intercepted Sposito’s pass and returned it 68 yards for another Patterson touchdown and a 35-7 lead with just 41 seconds left in the half.
“Our defense played with a ton of emotion,” Blanchard said. “We’ve had a lot of trouble against wing-T and veer teams this season, and they took the challenge of stopping E.D. White’s ground game to heart.”
Ausama had a scoring run in the third quarter, while E.D. White scored on a short run in the fourth quarter.
Patterson will continue district play Friday when it takes the short trip down La. 182 for a district matchup with rival Berwick at Geisler Stadium.

Patterson Box Score
PHS EDW First downs: 11 12
Rushing yards: 208 115
Passing yards: 80 96
Total yards: 288 211
A-C-HI: 13-7-0 13-9-1
Penalty-yards: 7-70 5-60
Fumbles-lost: 1-1 2-1

Score by Quarters
PHS: 7 28 7 0 -- 42
EDW: 7 0 0 7 -- 14

Scoring Summary
First Quarter
PHS: Sirbatian Charles 11-yard run (Christian Soria kick) 9:14

EDW: Jeremy Rounds 5-yard run (Winston Jones kick) 2:16

Second Quarter
PHS: Tristen Ausama 18-yard run (kick good) 6:52

PHS: Daylon Charlot 24-yard pass from Charles (kick good) 5:51

PHS: Ausama 76-yard run (kick good) 3:32

PHS: Nehemiah Augustus 68-yard interception return (kick good) :41

Third Quarter
PHS: Ausama 6-yard run (kick good) 6:38

Fourth Quarter
EDW: Nik Shanklin 3-yard run (kick good) 6:07

Patterson Individual Stats Passing
Sirbatin Charles 7 of 13 for 80 yards, TD

Receiving
Daylon Charlot, 2-44, TD; Tristen Ausama, 2-19; Mykel Jones, 2-7; Shay Ragas, 1-10

Rushing
Tristen Ausama, 11-152, 3 TDs; John Davis, 3-21; Dontre Nicholas, 8-24; Sirbatin Charles, 1-11, TD; Jordan Butler, 1-0