WCA Wins Defensive Game
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
(Mike Curley photos)
A wet field, a crosstown rivalry and turnovers that limited offensive movement.
Those multiple ingredients created the rivalry environment where defenses were predominant Friday night at Crusader Stadium.
Both Opelousas Catholic and Westminster Christian Academy had their scoring chances evaporate during the District 6-1A contest that the Crusaders won 7-0.
For WCA, it meant a second straight win following an 0-3 start, while OCS continued a four-game search for ways to sustain offensive drives.
A second quarter, 1-yard touchdown run by Crusaders’ linebacker Jack Hunt with a minute and 23 seconds before halftime provided the only touchdown.
The score by Hunt, who also played linebacker, ended a short WCA scoring drive. Quarterback Garrett Noel, Tre’ Duplechain and Hunt, who carried three straight times beginning from the OCS 12-yard line, provided the major yardage.
OCS squandered a potential scoring chance when the Vikings lost a fumble late in the third quarter at the Crusaders’ 35.
Another opportunity evaporated minutes later after the Vikings’ Caleb Tezeno blocked a Crusaders’ 27-yard-field goal attempt and no OCS player collected the live football.
WCA also had a pair of scoring flirtations that dissipated with first quarter fumbles that occurred inside the Vikings’ 10 yard line.
On one of those chances, the Crusaders took the opening drive and moved on 12 plays inside the 10 following runs by Kyle Horde, Noel and Hunt.
The Crusaders fumbled again on the following possession — this time inside the 8-yard line – as the Vikings recovered.
A third lost fumble — around midfield – enabled the Vikings to deter another scoring threat early in the second period.
“I thought it was one of those hard fought games where field conditions played a factor. Overall what I am happy about is we are improving with each game. We started the season playing some heavy weights,” said WCA head football coach Byron Porter.
Noel, a sophomore playing his first year as a starter, gained just over 100 yards, said Porter, while Hunt, a team captain, gained key yards and wired the Crusaders’ defense.
“Jack Hunt played lights out. He’s been doing that since he started for us as a freshman. The way he played is who he is,” Porter added.
OCS head coach Kent Masson praised the Vikings’ defense.
“We were swarming to the ball and we tackled well. Our defense bent, but it didn’t break and that helped keep (Westminster) out the end zone,” Masson said.
Offensively the Vikings continue to experience offensive drives short-circuited by mistakes, Masson said.
“We’ll have good drives going and then we make mistakes. That’s been a common thread. I thought Braxtin Harris had some good runs for us, but we were not able to sustain what we started,” added Masson.
