Eagles to open district against Highland Baptist

The Central Catholic Eagles will begin District 7-1A play this week against Highland Baptist but will play the contest without the services of its biggest offensive weapon.
The Eagles’ Stefano Guarisco, who was injured late in the Eagles’ 32-6 loss to E.D. White a week ago, will not play this week, Central Catholic coach Tommy Minton said today.
Guarisco is both the team’s leading rusher and receiver this season. On the ground, he has carried the ball 73 times for 346 yards and seven scores, while through the air, he has caught seven passes for 146 yards and two scores.
While the Eagles have some more options they have gotten involved at wide receiver, Guarisco has been basically the Eagles’ lone option at running back this season. Sophomore Jalen Johnson also has carried once for two yards, while quarterback Blake Byrne has the next most carries behind Guarisco with 18, but has totaled negative yardage.
Minton said the Eagles will employ multiple options to replace Guarisco in the backfield, including senior Garret LeBlanc and freshmen Chris Singleton, who will be back this week following an injury, and freshman Demarcus Mitchell.
While Singleton and Mitchell haven’t carried the football in a varsity contest this year, LeBlanc has previous varsity experience from a year ago toting the pigskin.
Minton said he thought all three running backs have the ability to make big plays for the Eagles.
Receiving-wise behind Guarisco, the Eagles have Johnson, who has caught seven passes for 88 yards, sophomore Samarick Paul, who has nine catches for 86 yards and Matthew Barbier, six catches for 77 yards and a score.
Asked for his assessment of his squad entering district, Minton said his team has done good things offensively but needs to be more consistent.
“We’ve put good spurts together in ball games where we’ve moved the ball and then we’ve gone a little stale sometimes in the middle of the ball game, and we just need to be consistent throughout,” he said.
On defense, he said the Eagles tend to give up some big plays in games, something they need to eliminate.
This week the Eagles will face a Highland Baptist team that upset them last year in New Iberia, 34-28.
Minton said Highland Baptist runs a similar offensive attack to E.D. White.
“They’re a Wing-T team just like E.D. White, but they’re more dependent on their tailback in the outside part of the game … E.D. White was of course dependent on the big fullback and they wanted to establish him first,” Minton said. “These guys are going to establish the tailback (Gary Roberts), and he’s a good football player. He’s a big-play threat. We got to tackle him.”
While freshman Brontre Griffin has nearly 600 yards rushing for the Bears, Minton said that it’s Roberts that opens things up for him.
“He’s had some moments, but he’s set up by the tailback,” Minton said of Griffin. “When teams get so outside conscious, then the fullback’s able to pop some things.”
A week ago, Griffin rushed 23 times for 225 yards and three scores as Highland Baptist bounced back from a loss to Berwick with a 39-6 win against North Central.
In crossing the 200-yard mark, he became just the second Highland Baptist player to do so in school history.
Griffin scored touchdowns on three of the Bears’ first four offensive possessions in the first half as they led 20-0 at the break.
Roberts had 71 yards rushing and two touchdowns as the Bears totaled 343 yards rushing and 370 yards of total offense.
Quarterback Logan Jordan also tossed a 14-yard score to Griffin’s brother, Brody Griffin, in the contest.
On defense, Highland Baptist utilizes a four-man front and the play a good deal of zone coverage and not a lot of man coverage.
“It’s nothing we haven’t seen in the last couple weeks,” Minton said. “We just need to prepare, and I think the key for us is for our offensive line to be able to control the line of scrimmage. (It is) I think something we can do if we come out and play up to our capabilities.”
In addition to the opening of district, the game will be the Eagles’ first after they come off a 32-6 loss to E.D. White last week.
Minton agreed the game is a big one, coming off a loss as well as to start district on the right foot.
“Anytime you come off of a loss, it’s a long week and you can’t wait to get to the next competition period,” he said. “We’ve got a good week of practice. The kids have taken what happened with the loss, learned from it and I feel like we’re ready to go.”
Thursday’s game will begin at 7 p.m.
Additional reporting by www.iberian.net.