WCA Withstands OCS Challenge
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com
A Westminster Christian Academy advance into the quarterfinal round of postseason required an abundance of perseverance Friday night as the Crusaders held off an Opelousas Catholic passing attack that proved more than a little dangerous.
Top-seeded WCA lost a top offensive weapon and then developed secondary strategies to contend with the Vikings’ aerial attack that provided 326 yards and five touchdowns in a wild 48-35 Division IV-Select playoff contest at Crusaders Stadium.
The contest was a rematch of the Oct. 11 game at Donald Gardner Stadium where the Crusaders defeated OCS 24-22 in a game that wasn’t decided until the final seconds.
“This was one of those next-man up kind of games, where when you have guys that go down you need someone to step into their place. I thought we got that from our guys,” said WCA head football Byron Porter, whose top-seeded, 11-0 team moves forward to host district rival St. Edmund next Friday night.
One WCA player who created an assumed team leadership role was running back-linebacker Jack Hunt, who rushed for 98 yards, two touchdowns and scored a second quarter touchdown off a tipped pass interception.
Hunt became an effective offensive ingredient after Crusaders’ 220-pound running back Kyle Horde moved to the sidelines with a shoulder injury.
“We knew what was at stake in the game and we wanted to win this contest for the seniors, who aren’t ready to go home. I knew that when Kyle went out that it was going to be time for all of us to go to work,” Hunt said.
Hunt also executed a key, 63-yard run with three minutes remaining. Several plays later, Hunt scored the final WCA touchdown that gave the Crusaders the two-score advantage.
“The hole was there for me and I just went through it. I didn’t know that I could run that fast,” Hunt about the long run that led to the final touchdown..
Horde, who gained 139 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns, was injured for nearly all the second half,
Meanwhile the Vikings flexed their passing game with receivers Roderick Tezeno and Maurice Marcel positioned head up against a Crusaders’ secondary that was playing man-to-man.
“It’s not that unusual for us to get more than 300 yards passing,” said OCS head football coach Cullen Matherne.
WCA had few answers for Marcel, who scored four times off seven receptions for 221 yards.
“They were stacking the box up front, so that left Maurice and Roderick in manned-up situations. I thought that overall this was a great game. (Westminster) capitalized on our mistakes and they scored off them,” Matherne added.
Porter acknowledged the explosiveness of the Vikings’ passing game.
“With the type of guys that (OCS) has, we knew that they weren’t going to go away, so it was a matter for us to just stay persistent. The (OCS) guys did a good job of reading the coverages and we took a few wrong reads,” Porter said.
It was scoreless until the early second when Tezeno caught a 22-yard pass from quarterback Kross Gillen.
WCA retaliated with three unanswered touchdowns that crafted a 21-7 lead with 1:14 left before the intermission.
However Marcel caught a 69-yard scoring throw from Gillen to cut the lead to a touchdown as 16 seconds remained before the intermission.
A 49-yard scoring reception by Marcel tied the game after the Aiden Richard point after kick (21-21) but less than two minutes later, WCA took the lead on a 41-yard throw from quarterback Stephen George to wide receiver Gavin Frith.
Gillen threw two more TD passes – and a final one to Marcel — but Hunt’s two fourth quarter TD’s allowed the Crusaders to remain separated during the final 12 minutes.
