Eagles pull away from Tigers for win

Central Catholic and Hanson were locked in a tight ball game with more than 5 minutes left in the third quarter after Hanson had erased a 24-6 halftime deficit and now trailed by just eight.
However, just as fast as the Eagles let the Tigers back in the game, they nearly shut the door just as quickly with an offensive touchdown, followed by a defensive score en route to a 52-22 win.
Hanson got touchdowns on its first two drives to start the third quarter as the Tigers moved 65 yards in eight plays, capped by a one-yard quarterback keeper by Britt Young with 8:35 remaining, and after a Stefano Guarisco 2-yard run, the Tigers again scored after Jacob Srigley returned the kickoff to the Central Catholic 20 where, one play later, Brant Broussard scored on a 20-yard run with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter.
Broussard added the two-point conversion to cut the Eagles’ lead to just 30-22.
However, Guarisco again responded on the Eagles’ next drive, which consisted of just three plays capped by a Guarisco 28-yard run with 4:39 left in the third quarter. Bailey Badeaux’s two-point run made the score 38-22.
While Hanson got the ball back on offense looking to respond, Central Catholic’s Jalen Johnson had other ideas as he picked off Young at the Hanson 49 and returned the interception down the Eagles sideline for a score.
Guarisco added the two-point run and Central Catholic led 46-22 with 2:56 remaining.
Hanson (2-6 overall, 1-4 in district) never could regain its offensive momentum, and Central Catholic (7-1, 4-1) added one more touchdown late via a Guarisco 1-yard run with 5:24 remaining to seal the victory.
“We kind of started with the homecoming blahs, but we ended up kind of getting it together,” Central Catholic coach Tommy Minton said. “Let me tell you something: wins are too hard to come by to not enjoy this, celebrate it, but definitely we got to do some things better than what we did tonight to keep winning.”
Minton said the stops his squad got on Hanson in the second half were the result of his squad simply playing harder.
Guarisco led the Eagles with 25 carries for 285 yards and six touchdowns in the victory. While it is unknown what the school’s actual single-season rushing record is, Guarisco trails at least one other Eagle, Central Catholic alum Willie Shepherd. Shepherd rushed for 1,962 yards and 26 touchdowns in 1997 as the Eagles finished the season as Class 1A state runner-up.
Guarisco currently has 213 carries for 1,915 yards and 29 touchdowns.
In Friday’s win, the Eagles totaled 417 yards of offense (374 rushing, 43 passing).
“Had them 30-22 and made some mistakes, and we need to play better defense,” Hanson coach Brett Blakely said. “When you got a kid like Guarisco, you got to make sure you bottle him up. We didn’t do a very good job of bottling him up.”
Offensively, Hanson had 230 yards of offense (189 rushing, 41 passing).
“Very happy the way that we ran the ball tonight,” Blakely said. “Coming into this week, other than last week, we hadn’t really run the ball very well this season.”
The Hanson coach said he hoped his team can use that momentum in the run game they have gained in the last two weeks as well as fix their passing game and “maybe we can become a decent offense,” he said.
Central Catholic scored on its opening drive as the Eagles got a big run of 38 yards on first down by Blake Byrne on the game’s first offensive play. Byrne had plenty of running room down the Eagles sideline before he was stopped at the Hanson 15.
Three plays later, Guarisco scored from six yards out and added the two-point conversion for an 8-0 Central Catholic lead with 10:08 remaining in the first quarter.
The Eagles added another score later in the first quarter after taking possession at the Hanson 30 following a short punt.
On the first play of the drive, Guarisco rumbled 30 yards for a touchdown. He added the two-point conversion for a 16-0 Central Catholic lead with 1:53 left in the first quarter.
Hanson responded early in the second quarter with a defensive touchdown as Central Catholic quarterback Byrne overthrew receiver Jalen Johnson and Jacob Srigley picked it off and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown. The interception was the second for Srigley in the first half.
The two-point pass attempt by Young failed but Hanson now trailed 16-6 with 10:03 remaining in the third quarter.
Central Catholic would add another touchdown before halftime on a Guarisco 38-yard run with 22 seconds remaining in the half.
Byrne completed 1-of-3 passes for Central Catholic for 43 yards with two interceptions. Cade Minton had the Eagles’ lone reception.
Central Catholic will return to action Friday when it travels to face Gueydan in District 7-1A action.
Hanson also will be in district action as they travel to face Highland Baptist.

CCHS HMS
First Downs 19 12
Rushing Yards 374 189
Passing Yards 43 41
Total Yards 417 230
PA-C-HI 3-1-2 19-7-1

Score By Quarters
CCHS 16 8 22 6 — 52
HMS 0 6 16 0 — 22

Scoring Summary
First Quarter
CCHS: Stefano Guarisco 6-yard run. (Guarisco run) 10:08

CCHS: Guarisco 30-yard run (Guarisco run) 1:53

Second Quarter
HMS: Jacob Srigley 72-yard interception return. (Pass failed) 10:03

CCHS: Guarisco 38-yard run. (Guarisco run) 0:22

Third Quarter
HMS: Britt Young 1-yard run. (Brant Broussard run) 8:35

CCHS: Guarisco 2-yard run. (Run fail) 6:05

HMS: Broussard 20-yard run. (Broussard run) 5:45

CCHS: Guarisco 28-yard run. (Bailey Badeaux run) 4:39

CCHS: Jalen Johnson 49-yard interception return. (Guarisco run) 2:56

Fourth Quarter
CCHS: Guarisco 1-yard run. (Conversion failed) 5:24

CCHS Individual Stats
Rushing
Stefano Guarisco, 25-285, 6 TDs; Blake Byrne, 3-46; Bailey Badeaux, 4-33; Chris Singleton, 2-26; Sydney Holder, 1- (-8); Team, 1- (-8)

Passing
Blake Byrne, 1-3-2, 43 yds.

Receiving
Cade Minton, 1-43