Second Half Different For OCS
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
Like expert mechanics the Opelousas Catholic School football coaches fine-tuned their second half running game that provided more torque for running back Braxtin Harris.
Harris benefitted from a revised Vikings blocking scheme as he rushed for 161 yards and three touchdowns that helped provide first-year head coach Kent Masson with his first OCS head coaching victory.
The eventual 29-8 OCS victory over Breaux Bridge at Donald Gardner Stadium on Friday night looked doubtful during the first half as the Vikings were victimized by their own mistakes, penalties and occasional blocking scheme confusion.
Then came halftime and Masson decided it was time to attack in a different way.
“We made a couple of subtle changes. We weren’t getting to their linebackers and we wanted to do something differently in how we blocked the sweeps. Doing that gave Caleb (Tezeno) and Barxtin more of a chance,” said Masson.
Tezeno, starting his first game at quarterback, rushed 11 times, with nearly all of his 73 yards occurring in the second half.
Harris especially took advantage of the offensive revisions that helped the Vikings emerge from their 2-0 intermission deficit after Breaux Bridge recorded a safety following a high punt snap.
“I thought in the second half that everyone was locked in. We got a great game plan together. All we needed to do was execute better and get one stop on defense,” Harris said.
The Vikings’ defense allowed Breaux Bridge 76 rushing yards while denying the Tigers a completed pass.
Harris scored the Vikings’ first touchdown of the season on the first OCS possession of the second half as he manufactured a 25-yard run as gaps in the Tigers’ defense began to appear..
That OCS advantage lasted for seven minutes before the Vikings committed another kicking game mistake as officials ruled that punter Aiden Lafleur was down as he tried to handle an errant deep snap.
Breaux Bridge scored on a three-yard run and the two-point conversion provided an 8-7 lead, but changed permanently only seconds later.
The Vikings recovered an attempted onside kick at the Breaux Bridge 43 and Harris punched another run across the goal line from 22 yards out. Lafleur kicked the extra point and OCS led 15-8.
An Evan Duplechain interception that he returned to the Tigers’ 2-yard-line set up another Harris TD run.
Duplechain added the final OCS with 3:13 remaining in the 14 fourth quarter when he scored from the 6-yard line.
Both teams also drew the attention of the referees.
OCS and Breaux Bridge combined for 235 accepted penalty yards.
