OCS Unveils Defense
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
Any preseason questions about the Opelousas Catholic defense were extinguished on Thursday night.
The Vikings produced three quarters of shutouts and intercepted a trio of passes as OCS opened the season with a 14-7 victory at Iota High.
“I thought our defense and special teams played well. We’ve thought all along that we had a good group on defense and they would have a chance to make a name for themselves. They are young guys who really rose to the occasion and were up to that challenge,” said OCS head football coach Cullen Matherne.
Sophomore defensive back Carter Savant intercepted two passes and broke up another two throws for an Iota passing game that was limited to seven completions on 19 attempts and 54 yards.
Offensively OCS quarterback Kross Gillen completed touchdown passes to Roderick Tezeno and Luke Minyard. The Vikings threw for 166 yards and a pair of interceptions.
Iota rushed for 101 yards on 33 attempts, while the Vikings gained 60 on the 22 ground attempts.
The Bulldogs scored first on a two-yard Dace Fuselier run. OCS tied it at the end of the period on a 50-yard attempt from Gillen to Tezeno.
OCS broke the tie in the third period on the 25-yard scoring completion from Gillen to Minyard.
Matherne said the Vikings weren’t sure how to approach the Iota defense.
“It turned out to be more of a defensive game. Over the summers your offenses get rusty and you don’t have much to work with in terms of film. We worked with two of (the Iota) coverages and that’s what we used to get the 14 points,” Matherne said.
OCS will be the home team next Friday night when the Vikings host East Beauregard at Lafayette Renaissance Charter Academy near the Interstate 49 and Interstate 10 split.
Matherne expects the Donald Gardner Stadium project to be completed in time to host Westminster Christian Academy on Oct. 10.
