Tigers fall in OT to Westminster Christian, 28-21

With its staple of its offense, its run game, limited in the second half and the Tigers forced to go to the air the more than they had this season, Morgan City still nearly broke through the adversity and kept its perfect season intact.
However, the Westminster Crusaders just had one more touchdown in them than the Tigers, as Morgan City fell for the first time this season, 28-21, in overtime Friday.
With the score tied at 21 after regulation, each team received the ball at the opponent’s 10-yard line for four plays in overtime.
Westminster got the ball first and punched it in on its fourth-down play on a Cam Jones 1-yard run in a pile at the goal line.
The drive was aided by a Morgan City unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that moved the ball from the 4 yard line to the 2 yard line on third down.
Gene Kraemer added the extra point for the 28-21 lead with 9:17 remaining in overtime.
When Morgan City got its possession at the Westminster 10, Clifton Escort got a yard on first down before Morgan City quarterback Abram Hartley, who had connected with standout wide receiver Makye Richard all night, looked to the junior again in overtime.
However, the duo couldn’t connect on three straight completions, including the fourth down pass that Richard just couldn’t secure.
While the play was the final one of the night, Morgan City head coach Scott Tregle said the Tigers just got outcoached in a game the Tigers led 14-0 at one point in the second quarter.
“Like I told the kids, I thought their coaching staff did a great job,” Tregle said. “I thought they outcoached us. We didn’t play hard like we normally do. I think we got a little big-headed. We (are) up 14-0 on them, and we’re like ‘oh, yeah, this is another blowout.’
“That’s what they’re thinking, and that team didn’t quit. They got some athletes. Hardnosed, and we made mistakes. Two short fields we gave them two touchdowns. They took our run away (in) the second half, and we just had to throw the ball,” Tregle said.
The Crusaders got themselves back in the game within nearly a minute as they recovered a fumble by Kedric Scott and scored soon after on offense, while on the Tigers’ next possession, they picked off Hartley and turned it into a touchdown on offense.
While Tregle said they had some success in the pass game, he said they shouldn’t have gotten picked off.
“It wasn’t physical mistakes. It was mental mistakes, and that’s how we’ve been practicing the last couple of weeks.”
While the game had a dramatic ending, it certainly had a different feel early on.
After Morgan City stopped a Westminster drive a yard short on fourth down at the Morgan City 16, the Tigers took over.
While they appeared as if they would punt on fourth down from the Morgan City 25, punter Lloyd Singleton took the snap and then ran with it before being tackled 31 yards downfield at the Westminster 44.
From there, Morgan City continued its drive down the field to the end zone.
Hartley and Richard capped the drive with 38 seconds left in the first quarter when Richard caught an 18-yard pass.
Miguel Perez’s extra point was good for a 7-0 Morgan City lead.
The Tigers didn’t take long to get on the scoreboard again as the Tigers blocked Westminster Christian punter John Robert Thibodeaux’s punt at the 11-yard line, and Escort recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown.
While Westminster’s next drive stalled at the Morgan City 43, the Crusaders would get the ball back two plays after punting at the Morgan City 20 after Scott fumbled.
Four plays later, Westminster crossed the goal line via a Ken Jones 1-yard run.
Thibodeaux’s extra point was no good, so Morgan City led 7-6 with 5:42 remaining in the opening quarter.
Westminster would secure another turnover on Morgan City’s next drive as Hartley was intercepted by Jones, and he returned the pick to the Morgan City 5.
A play later, Jones scored on a 5-yard run.
Brandon Vidrine’s 2-point run was good to tie the game at 14 with 4:41 remaining in the half.
While Morgan City drove down as deep as the Westminster 10 on its next drive, the Tigers could get no closer and turned the ball over with 20 seconds remaining in the half after two straight incompletions, including a third-down pass Calvin Bergeron couldn’t secure in the end zone for a score.
Westminster got the ball to start the third quarter and went exclusively to its ground game with an impressive 8-play, 71-yard drive capped by a Vidrine 15-yard run.
Kraemer’s extra point was good for a 21-14 Westminster lead with 8:37 remaining in the third quarter.
Vidrine led Westminster with 13 carries for 87 yards and a score to lead Westminster’s 200-yard rushing attack. Teammate Noah Launey added 13 carries for 66 yards, while Jones had 16 carries for 55 yards and 3 touchdowns.
After Westminster took the lead, Morgan City responded with a quick 3-play, 53-yard drive that was capped by an Ethan Scioneaux 23-yard run with 7:41 remaining in the third quarter. The play was preceded by an even bigger one as Hartley connected with Richard for a 31-yard pass in which the receiver outleaped the defender for the ball.
After Scioneaux’s score, Perez’s extra point knotted the game at 21.
Scioneaux led the Tigers’ run game with 11 carries for 40 yards and a score, while Scott had 9 carries for 36 yards.
Hartley completed 12-of-25 passes for 209 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.
Morgan City and Westminster both had their chances to score in the remainder of the third and fourth quarters but couldn’t convert. On Morgan City’s final drive of regulation, Hartley was stopped a yard short of a first down, following a 7-yard run with 29 seconds remaining.
Westminster took a knee to drain the remainder of the fourth quarter’s time.
Morgan City finished the game with 328 yards of offense (119 rushing, 209 passing).
Looking forward, Tregle said his team must change its practice habits.
“I told them Monday it’s got to change,” Tregle said. “We’re going to play a lot better team than this next Friday, and if we don’t change what we’re doing and come out and get off our butt, we’re going to get our tails kicked.”
Morgan City will return to action Friday when it begins District 7-4A action at South Lafourche.

MCHS WCA
First Down: 15 12
Rushing Yards: 119 200
Passing Yards: 209 46
Total Yards: 328 246
PA-C-HI: 25-12-2 10-1-1
Fumbles-Lost: 3-1 2-0

Score By Quarter
MCHS 7 7 7 0 0 = 21
WCA 0 14 7 0 7 = 28

Scoring Summary
First Quarter
MCHS: Abram Hartley 18-yard pass to Makye Richard (Miguel Perez kick) 0:38

Second Quarter
MCHS: Clifton Escort block punt recovery in end zone

WCA: Ken Jones 1-yard run. (Kick fail) 5:42

WCA: Jones 5-yard run. (Brandon Vidrine run) 4:41

Third Quarter
WCA: Vidrine 15-yard run. (Gene Kraemer kick) 8:37

MCHS: Ethan Scioneaux 23-yard run. (Perez kick) 7:41

Overtime
WCA: Jones 1-yard run. (Kraemer kick) 9:17

Morgan City Individual Stats
Rushing
Ethan Scioneaux, 11-40 yds., TD; Kedrick Scott, 9-36 yds.; Lloyd Singleton, 1-31 yds.; Trey Derouen, 1-4 yds.; Makye Richard, 1-4 yds.; Malik Phillips, 9-2 yds.; Abram Hartley, 3-1 yds.; Clifton Escort, 1-1 yd.

Passing
Abram Hartley, 12-25-2, 209 yds., TD; Makye Richard, 0-1-0

Receiving
Makye Richard, 9-159 yds., 1 TD; Lloyd Singleton, 3-50