Patterson will meet Berwick on the gridiron Friday

Local rivals Patterson and Berwick are set to clash Friday at Geisler Stadium in Berwick.
For Patterson (5-3, 2-0 District 9-3A), fresh off a dominant win against E.D. White last week, Friday’s game is a must-win.
Last week’s win put Patterson in position to capture the district championship outright if it wins its last two games.
“The kids know what we had to fight through this season,” Patterson head coach Chad Blanchard said. “So this is not the time for a letdown. We must remain focused.”
The Lumberjacks were focused in last week’s first-place showdown with E.D. White, earning their fifth win in a row this season.
Patterson opened 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 answered immediately; however, tying the game on with a 12-play, 70-yard drive with 2:16 to play in the first quarter.
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 the score to give the ’Jacks a 14-7 lead at the 6:52 mark.
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 (Ausama) 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. I think the offensive line would love to say they blocked for a 1,000-yard back.”
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 pass attempts for 1,174 yards with 17 touchdowns and four interceptions.
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.
Standout linebacker Nehemiah Augustus put the game out of reach with a sack to force E.D. White to pass, and then he intercepted Benjamin 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.
Berwick (2-6, 1-1) fell to Donaldsonville 32-0 on the road last week. The Panthers were without standout running back Braden Billiot, injured early in the game. Billiot is the third leading rushers in the Tri-City area with 108 carries for 736 yards 6 touchdowns.
Berwick finished the game with just 42 yards rushing. Billiot averages 92 yards per game despite missing the majority of last week’s game.
Senior quarterback Jeremy Boudreaux carried most of the offensive load for Berwick. He was 5-of-12 passing for 62 yards, and he rushed for 28 yards.
Boudreaux has completed 41-of-92 passes for 504 yards with six touchdowns and seven interceptions this season, and he also has rushed for 324 yards on 101 carries with a touchdown.
Junior receiver Audwin Williams had four catches for 64 yards Friday, and he’s caught 28 passes for 430 yards and three touchdowns. He’s third in the Tri-City area behind Patterson’s Mykel Jones (23 catches for 442 yards, seven TDs) and Daylon Charlot (16 catches for 437 yards, eight TDs).
“The kids know what we’re up against this week,” Berwick head coach Craig Brodie said. “But we will have Braden back, and we’re hoping to get Tre (Matthews) back. Hopefully he gets cleared to play, and that would be a big boost for us defensively.”
Matthews, a senior linebacker, broke his wrist earlier this season, Brodie said.
“We have to be sound defensively,” Brodie stressed. “We must get a bunch of players to the football and gang tackle, because we can’t allow them to get into space one-on-one because (we) can’t match them that way.”
Offensively, Brodie says the Panthers have reduced the playbook for this game.
“They come with a lot of pressure off the edges and with their linebackers, so we had to find a few plays that we can hopefully use to take advantage of what they give us.”
Patterson jumped five spots to lead area teams in the latest power rankings released by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Tuesday. The ’Jacks are ranked No. 5 in 3A this week. Berwick remained at No. 45.