White lifts Knights to comeback win against ’Jacks

North Webster stormed back from 23 points down in the fourth quarter to stun Patterson, 51-47, in the quarterfinals round of the Class 3A playoffs Friday.
Patterson (9-4) just couldn’t slow down highly-regarded running back Devin White. White carried 43 times for 391 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Knights on the ground. He averaged 9.1 yards per carry in the game. The junior also had a 46-yard catch for a score, and he also was a factor at linebacker and on special teams.
“We did some good things against him at times, but he’s a highly-touted player for a reason,” Patterson head coach Chad Blanchard said. “The kid is a great football player, and their coaching staff did a great job of getting him the ball. I would have done the same thing, but we didn’t help ourselves with the onsides kicks, and that was the difference in the game.”
Patterson’s season ends in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. The Lumberjacks had won nine games in a row after starting the season 0-3.
Patterson got back-to-back touchdowns from Tristen Ausama and Nehemiah Augustus to take a 47-24 lead with 11:27 remaining in the game. Ausama, after being bottled up most of the night, broke free for a 72-yard touchdown run with 11:47 remaining. The junior carried nine times for 102 yards and a touchdown to lead the ’Jacks’ ground game, while Augustus took his lone carry of the night 40 yards for a score with 11:27 remaining in the ball game. Ausama also had two receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown.
With his Knights on the ropes, White amassed 257 yards in the second half to keep North Webster within striking distance. The 235-pound junior is rated as the 10th-best college prospect in the state for 2016, according to Rivals.com, which says he has offers from LSU, Arkansas, Mississippi, TCU and Texas A&M, among others.
After the ’Jacks’ back-to-back scores, White answered with a 55-yard touchdown run with 9:34 remaining.
North Webster’s onside kick on the ensuing kickoff didn’t travel 10 yards so Patterson kept the ball.
However, the ’Jacks offense couldn’t convert on a fourth-and-1, turning the ball over to the Knights and White with 7:50 to play. White was stacked up on a 1-yard run, so North Webster decided to throw him the ball on the next play. He took a short pass and dashed 46 yards for another score, cutting the Patterson lead to 47-37 with 6:46 to play.
North Webster completed just three passes in the game but two went for touchdowns, including a 56-yarder on a fake punt in the third quarter.
Ausama couldn’t handle the next onside kick, and North Webster recovered at the Patterson 49-yard line.
“That is something we do all season,” North Webster head coach John Ware said. “We have a kicker that’s good at getting a nice bounce, and the other kids love to be physical going after the ball. We feel that we will get at least half of all the onsides kicks we try.”
While Augustus responded, with a sack of North Webster quarterback Kolby Cooper, he was flagged for a personal foul.
White carried four times and scored on a 15-yard run with 5:15 left to cut the Patterson lead to 47-44.
“We knew the onsides kicks were coming,” Blanchard said. “They do it against everybody. We worked on it a ton, but I don’t think four days is enough time to really prepare for that. We really worked on it, but they still got a few and that hurt us in the second half.”
One thing Blanchard remarked about after the game was a few calls that didn’t go the Lumberjacks’ way.
“I’m going to have to go back and watch the tape, but we had a couple huge calls go against,” Blanchard said.
After cutting the lead to 3, North Webster’s next kickoff went out of bounds, and Patterson took over with 4:36 to play. A holding penalty stifled the ’Jacks’ possession, but Shundren Johnson got off a strong punt.
North Webster took over at the Patterson 40 yard line with 3:53 left in the game.
A tired Lumberjacks’ defense needed one last stand to advance to the semifinals. But an equally exhausted White rose to the occasion, carrying the ball down to the Patterson 27-yard line to set up a fourth-and-2 with 1:36 remaining in the game.
White broke free for 17 yards, but Patterson linebacker Blake Dreyer delivered a solid tackle and the big back had to leave the game.
After a 2-yard run by Lyntravious Gipson, White returned to the game, and with the defense keying him, North Webster slipped wingback Jalen Smith in for the game-winning 8-yard touchdown run with just 50 seconds remaining.
“We had our defense on the field just too much tonight and tackling that size kid wears you down,” Blanchard said. “We just couldn’t get the ball from them.”
North Webster was six-of-seven on fourth down tries in the game.
Now trailing for the first time since the second quarter, Patterson completed two passes, but quarterback Sirbatian Charles was forced to run on first-down at the Knights’ 32-yard line with under 20 seconds remaining, and the clock was allowed to run out. The officials put 2 seconds back on the clock, but Charles’ pass went awry, sealing the win for North Webster.
Charles completed 11-of-13 passes for 217 yards and four touchdowns.
North Webster (10-3) advanced to the semifinals where it will face Amite next week. Amite defeated Jennings 31-7 in other quarterfinal action Friday.

Patterson-North Webster Box Score
PHS NW
First downs: 11 21
Rushing yards: 149 428
Passing yards: 217 113
Total yards: 366 541
A-C-HI: 13-11-0 10-3-1
Penalties-yards: 6-65 6-40
Fumbles-lost: 3-3 4-3

Patterson: 7 7 20 13 – 47
NW: 7 3 14 27 – 51

First Quarter
NW: Devin White 1-yard run (Conroe McMullan kick) 7:32

PHS: Daylon Charlot 12-yard pass from Sirbatian Charles (Christian Soria kick) 3:08

Second Quarter
NW: Conroe McMullan 38-Yard field goal 9:34
PHS: Mykel Jones 42-yard pass from Charles (kick good) 6:49
Third Quarter
PHS: Nehemiah Augustus 68-yard interception return (kick good) 9:06

PHS: Tristen Ausama 47-yard pass from Charles (kick failed) 8:08

NW: Jekyren Miles 56-yard pass from Kolby Cooper on fake punt (kick Good) 6:10

PHS: Charlot 49-yard pass from Charles (kick good) 6:01

NW: White 8-yard run (kick good) 4:47

Fourth Quarter
PHS: Ausama 72-yard run (kick failed) 11:47

PHS: Augustus 40-yard run (kick good) 11:27

NW: White 55-yard run (run failed) 9:34
NW: White 46-yard pass from Cooper (kick good) 6:46

NW: White 15-yard run (kick good) 5:15

NW: Jalen Smith 8-yard run (kick good) 44.6

Patterson Stats
Passing
Sirbatian Charles 11-of-13 for 217 yards and 4 TDs
Receiving
Tristen Ausama 2 catches for 52 yards, TD; Daylon Charlot 3-78, 2TDs; Shay Ragas 1-8; D.J. Jones 3-27; Mykel Jones 2-52, TD

Rushing
Tristen Ausama 9-102 yards, TD; Mykel Jones 2-4; Sirbatian Charles 6-3; Nehemiah Augustus 1-40 yards, TD