Patterson will host Class 4A Ellender tonight

Patterson High will hit the field for its week 4 contest today when the Lumberjacks host Class 4A Ellender in a 7 p.m. nondistrict contest.
While the game originally was set to be played at South Terrebonne (Ellender shares a field with South Terrebonne), it was moved to Patterson due to unsafe field conditions due to rain.
On the field, Patterson will be looking for its first win after an 0-3 start against a brutal predistrict schedule thus far that has featured Class 5A Central Lafourche, Class 5A Hahnville and Class 2A Catholic High-New Iberia. Those three teams are a combined 8-1 to start the season.
Like Patterson, Ellender is led this year by a first-year coach as former longtime South Terrebonne assistant coach David McCormick now leads Ellender.
Ellender is 2-1, having defeated H.L. Bourgeois (47-14) and Bonnabel (12-0) in consecutive weeks after falling to Terrebonne (48-19) in its season opener.
The Patriots are ranked No. 4 in the latest Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class 4A power rankings, while Patterson is ranked No. 17 in Class 3A.
The Ellender offense is led by Tulane commit, senior Davontavean Martin, who Patterson head coach Marvin Dantzler called “an outstanding athlete.”
Martin has seen time at running back, quarterback and receiver this season. He has rushed 31 times for 304 yards and two scores, completed 9 of 18 passes for 137 yards with two touchdowns and caught six passes for 101 yards and a touchdown.
“He’s the guy they (are) going to get the ball in his hands, whether it’s handing it off of to him or trying to throw it to him in the slot,” Dantzler said.
Junior running back Reginald Williams also has 20 carries for 140 yards and three touchdowns.
Senior quarterback Colby Poe has shared signal-calling duties with Martin. Poe has completed 7 of 21 passes with a touchdown and an interception.
Offensively, Dantzler said, “They’re a spread team, two-back system, (shotgun).”
On defense, key Ellender leaders are linebacker Jamire Mott and safety Daquirs Griffin.
Dantzler said the Patriots run a 4-3 look.
“We’ll see a lot of man-to-man, because they have a lot of athletes, so they’ll probably play cover 1 mixed with some cover 2 look,” Dantzler said. “They’re better than I think they’ve been in years past because those kids have been playing three or four years, so it’s the same kids that’s been playing, but we like how we match up against them.”
As for Patterson, the Lumberjacks are looking to string together some offensive production. Patterson has been shut out the last two weeks and hasn’t scored a touchdown since the second quarter of its week 1 loss to Central Lafourche.
While quarterback Dillan Giandelone has led the squad at quarterback the first 2.5 games, he will make the switch back to defense where he was an all-district performer a year ago.
Freshman Randy Paul played the second half at quarterback a week ago, failing to complete his one pass attempt and rushing once for 3 yards.
“He’s had a good week,” Dantzler said Wednesday of Paul. “We’ve actually worked three different quarterbacks this week. We continued to work Dillan Giandelone, even though he’s playing defense now. Remember, Hector Tolento, he was hurt for two weeks, so he’s back in the rotation. He’s had a good week of practice, and of course, I like what I see with Randy, but you also want to pace a freshman. You don’t want to put too much on him, but he’s been able to handle it so far.”
As for who will get the start Friday, Dantzler said playing time likely would be split.
“I think it’s going to be Hector Tolento and Randy Paul,” he said Wednesday. “I’ll make a decision probably after today’s practice.”
Dantzler said last week Giandelone still could see time at quarterback this season.
Regardless of who is under center, Dantzler said some offensive adjustments have been made to get the ball more often into the hands of his team’s playmakers more.
This season, Giandelone leads the Patterson offense with 41 carries for 205 yards, while he has completed 14 of 36 passes for 192 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
Senior wide receiver Jordan Butler leads Patterson’s receivers with seven catches for 127 yards and a score.