Tigers Keep Rolling
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
At this point in the season, It’s about maintaining the competitive edge and Opelousas High continued to achieve that on Friday night as the Tigers prepare this week for the start of a district schedule.
Opelousas fell behind early and then stopped a determined fourth quarter Lafayette Christian Academy comeback to win a 28-26 Homecoming contest played at Donald Gardner Stadium.
OHS head football coach Harry Coleman said the victory — the fourth in five games — could have set the tone for the remainder of the season which includes the district 5-4A opener at home this Friday night against Carencro.
“These types of competitive games that we had (against LCA) are like you usually see in the postseason, in the playoffs. I thought our guys played with a lot of effort and hopefully it will carry over, with the district coming up,” Coleman said.
LCA, Coleman pointed out, launched a formidable comeback during the final four minutes with a pair of touchdowns that nearly extinguished a two-score Opelousas advantage.
“LCA stood up and didn’t quit. They had that strong comeback and we really had to work to get the win. We made a play to stop them on a two-point conversion and then we recovered the onside kick after that,” said Coleman.
How It Happened
Opelousas fell behind 13-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Tigers’ quarterback Collin Rideau scored on a 4-yard run, first quarter run (4:20) to provide a 6-0 lead.
However the Knights’ Caiden Bellard ran the following kickoff back 85 yards and provided the extra point to establish the one-point lead (7-6).
LCA extended the lead further with a 24-yard touchdown completion.
In the second quarter Rideau put Opelousas in the end zone again, this time on a 25-yard pass to Jaylon Owens. The two point conversion put the Tigers in front (14-13) at the intermission.
Opelousas kept the Knights from scoring during the third quarter and extended the lead on a 25-yard Joseph Clues run.
A safety with 11:53 left in the game gave Opelousas a 22-13 advantage.
It appeared the Tigers had set the stage for the Homecoming celebration when Rideau scored to give Opelousas a 28-13 lead (6:15).
