West Feliciana surges past Patterson, 44-19

West Feliciana’s ground game was too much for fourth-ranked Patterson in the regional round of the Class 3A playoffs Friday at the Sugar Dome as the No. 13 Saints upset the fourth-ranked Lumberjacks, 44-19.
Sophomore quarterback Derrick Turner rolled up 206 yards on 27 carries and scored four touchdowns to lead the Saints, while fullback Ronald Sims added 104 yards and two scores.
“We think we’re a pretty good football team, and while we didn’t expect this (the score), we expected to come out on top,” West Feliciana coach Robb Odom said. “Patterson has a real good team, too, and we knew they were very explosive so we just wanted to contain them.”
Odum credited his defense for their effort Friday.
“I have to give it to our defense,” he said. “They stepped up big tonight.”
With the win, West Feliciana (8-4) advanced to the quarterfinals for the third time in the last five years.
The Saints jumped out to a 16-0 first-quarter lead behind touchdowns runs by Turner of 2 and 23 yards. The Saints rushed for 359 yards in the game.
“They were good upfront, very athletic on the offensive line, and the quarterback is such a good athlete running the football,” Patterson coach Chad Blanchard said. “We saw that on film, and we knew we were going to have some issues trying to contain him. They’re a very good offensive team. They scored a lot of points all season.”
West Feliciana averaged 33 points per game coming into Friday’s contest.
“When you get into the playoffs, teams are going to find out what you struggle with,” Blanchard said. “We didn’t have much size on defense this season, so we struggled against the run. The kids were very athletic and very coachable, but sooner or later, if a team is that much bigger than you and they have a scheme that they can use against your size, then you are going to struggle. We played hard with who and what we had.”
Patterson had 306 yards of total offense — 162 yards passing and 144 yards rushing.
D.J. Jones got the ’Jacks on the scoreboard early in the second quarter on a 20-yard touchdown run. Jones was the top rusher with seven carries for 70 yards and two scores.
And after a big fourth-down stop by Charlie Kelly, Patterson got the ball back, but the offense sputtered again.
Patterson then pulled a fake punt that West Feliciana sniffed out to take over at the Patterson 43.
Six plays later, Sims was in the end zone, pushing West Feliciana’s lead to 24-6 with 2:13 left in the half.
Patterson (9-3) opened the second half with an eight-play, 65-yard drive that resulted in a Sirbatian Charles 29-yard touchdown pass to a leaping Nehemiah Augustus with 9:15 remaining in the third quarter.
Charles was 14 of 23 passing for 173 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
His top target was Mykel Jones with five receptions for 94 yards. Augustus had four catches for 36 yards and a touchdown.
“They dropped a lot of people into coverage and they left a running box, and that’s why we (had) success at times running the football,” Blanchard said.
Tristen Ausama also carried 11 times for 62 yards.
D.J. Jones added a seven-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to round out the scoring for Patterson.
But West Feliciana put pressure on Charles all night, sacking the senior five times.
“I’m proud of our seniors and all the kids, to be honest with you,” Blanchard said. “Chubb (Charles), Mykel, Nehemiah, D.J., Charlie Kelly, all the seniors have been a big part of our success here. We finished with just 39 players. We had kids that decided they just didn’t want to put in the effort this season. Football isn’t one of those sports you can drop in and out of and expect success. It takes commitment and hard work, but it also makes you a better person.”

WF PHS
First downs: 22 17
Rushing yards: 359 144
Passing yards: 26 162
Total yards: 385 306
A-C-Hi: 3-1-0 23-14-1
Penalties-yards: 6-55 7-60
Fumbles-Lost: 1-0 1-1

Score By Quarters
WF 16 8 14 6
PHS 0 6 7 6

Scoring Summary
First Quarter
WF: Derrick Turner 2-yard run. (run good) 6:13
WF: Turner 23-yard run. (run good) 1:37
Second Quarter
PHS: D.J. Jones 20-yard run. (pass failed) 11:53
WF: Ronald Sims 3-yard run. (run good) 2:13
Third Quarter
PHS: Nehemiah Augustus 29-yard pass from Sirbatian Charles. (Christian Soria kick) 9:15
WF: Turner 5-yard run. (run failed) 6:00
WF: Turner 1-yard run. (run good) 0:13
Fourth Quarter
PHS: D.J. Jones 7-yard run. (run failed) 4:16
WF: Sims 17-yard run. (kick failed) 2:05

Patterson Individual Stats
Passing
Sirbatian Charles 14-23-1, 173 yds., TD

Receiving
D.J. Jones, 2-17 yds.; Mykel Jones, 5-94 yds.; Tristen Ausama, 2-15 yds.; Nehemiah Augustus, 4-36 yds., TD.

Rushing
Mykel Jones, 1-8 yds.; Ausama, 11-62 yds.; Augustus, 2-0 yds.; D.J. Jones, 7-70 yds., 2 TDs; Charles, 10-4 yds.