Vikings overcome CCHS rally

In a game featuring big plays, Central Catholic rallied from a 19-point deficit in approximately a quarter’s worth of time during its contest with Opelousas Catholic in Morgan City Thursday.
However, the visiting Vikings countered with one last big play and held the Eagles out the end zone in two possessions in the last five minutes for a 34-27 victory in Morgan City.
“We made some mistakes early, let them build a lead and then we came back,” Central Catholic Coach Tommy Minton said. “I was glad to see the kids compete hard. I was glad to see the kids stay after it.”
Trailing 26-7 after an Opelousas Catholic touchdown via a 46-yard pass from Sam Jarrell to Cameron Lee on its opening drive of the second half with 8:07 remaining, Central Catholic responded with three touchdowns for a 27-26 lead.
The Eagles scored a touchdown with 5:34 remaining in the third quarter on a 30-yard touchdown run by Chris Singleton to cut the score to 26-13.
After freshman Davidyione Bias jarred loose the football on a special teams tackle on the ensuing kickoff, the Eagles soon reached the end zone again, this time on a nice play by quarterback Blake Byrne. Byrne picked up the ball on the ground, rolled to his right to elude pressure and tossed a pass to Samarick Paul, who headed to the end zone for the touchdown with 2:01 remaining in the third quarter.
Central Catholic’s final score of the night came on a fourth-down-and-goal situation from the Opelousas Catholic 4 when Chris Singleton crossed the goal line for a touchdown to tie the game at 26 with 8:15 remaining.
Drake Angeron’s extra point gave the Eagles their first lead in the game since the first quarter.
However, Opelousas Catholic (2-0) countered with a touchdown on its next drive via a Sam Jarrell 37-yard run with 4:58 remaining.
While Central Catholic (1-1) had two possessions in the final 4:50, the Eagles could not score. They were stopped on a fourth-down-and-four situation at the Central Catholic 40 when quarterback DeDe Gant was sacked for a 3-yard loss with 3:05 remaining.
After stopping the Vikings a yard short of a first down at the Central Catholic 28 with 1:06 remaining, Central Catholic could get nothing going as Byrne’s first two pass attempts were incomplete, and his third-down pass was intercepted by Kane Armond, sealing the Vikings’ victory.
Early on in the first quarter, Central Catholic looked solid on its first drive of the game as the Eagles moved the b all 65 yards on eight plays, capped by Bailey Badeaux’s 1-yard run. The big play on the drive was a 28-yard reception by Jalen Johnson from Byrne on a ball that Johnson was able to hold onto with a defender fight for possession as well.
Angeron’s extra point gave Central Catholic a 7-0 lead with 8:51 remaining.
After the teams exchanged possession multiple times due to fumbles, Opelousas Catholic got into a groove, scoring touchdowns on an Armond 1-yard run with 5:08 remaining in the first quarter and an Armond 11-yard run with 1:33 remaining in the first for a 12-7 advantage. Armond scored his third touchdown of the half on a 32-yard run with 5:35 remaining in the second quarter.
Central Catholic drove the ball down to Opelousas Catholic 18, but Byrne’s fourth-down pass was broken up to end the Eagles’ threat.
“We’re going to use this game to get better,” Minton said. “That’s why you play games like this this early in the year is to get better. It’s to help you win a district championship. It’s to help you prepare for the long haul. We (are) in this for more than 10 weeks.”
Central Catholic will return to action next Thursday when the squad travels to face Ascension Catholic in a 7 p.m. contest in Donaldsonville.

CCHS OC
First downs 17 15
Rushing yds. 197 227
Passing yds. 116 117
Total yards 313 344
A-C-HI 20-6-1 11-6-0
Penalties-yds. 5-45 4-20
Fumbles-lost 6-3 3-2

Score By Quarters
CCHS 7 0 13 7 — 27
OC 12 8 6 8 — 34

Scoring
First Quarter
CCHS: Bailey Badeaux 1-yard run. (Drake Angeron kick) 8:51
OC: Kane Armond 1-yd. run. (Kick failed) 5:08
OC: Armond 11-yd. run (2 pt. conversion fails) 1:33

Second Quarter
OC: Armond 32-yd. run. (Armond run) 5:35

Third Quarter
OC: Sam Jarrell 46-yd. pass to Cameron Lee. (2 pt. pass failed) 8:07
CCHS: Chris Singleton 30-yd. run. (Kick failed) 5:34
CCHS: Blake Byrne 5-yd. pass to Samarick Paul. (Angeron kick) 2:01

Fourth Quarter
CCHS: Singleton 2-yd. run. (Angeron kick) 8:15
OC: Jarrell 37-yd. run. (Jarrell run) 4:58

CHS Individual Stats
Rushing
Chris Singleton 17-76, 2 TDs; Blake Byrne 9-41; Bailey Badeaux 11-41, 1 TD; Sydney Holder 2-33; Samarick Paul 2-4; DeDe Gant 2-3; Team 1- (-1)

Passing
Blake Byrne 6-19-1, 116 yds., 1 TD; DeDe Gant 0-1-0, 0 yds.

Receiving
Greg Leger, 1-57; Jalen Johnson, 2-41; Samarick Paul 2-14, 1 TD; Bailey Badeaux 1-4