The defensive improvement Opelousas Catholic has shown over the past eight weeks will be tested in the Division IV-select playoffs Friday night against Central Catholic-Morgan City.
If the Vikings advance to the postseason quarterfinal round scheduled for Morgan City Junior High School Stadium, Vikings head coach Thomas David said his defense has to contain CCMC running back Demondrick Blackburn, a 218-pound senior who is an offensive core for the Eagles.
“(Blackburn) is a big kid physically and he seems to be the cornerstone for all that they do offensively. I really can’t compare (Blackburn) with any other back that we’ve faced, other than maybe others we saw earlier against Oak Grove and Southern Lab,” said David.
Statistically, Blackburn has gained 1,165 rushing yards and has scored 31 touchdowns. Blackburn also has caught 380 yards of passes from quarterback Caleb O’Con. Blackburn and O’Con (1,129 passing yards) are two seniors for a senior-rich team.
Central Catholic is 19-5 over the last two seasons. The Eagles, seeded No. 2 with a first-round bye in the postseason this year, were 8-2 during the 2022 regular season.
Vermilion Catholic and Riverside Academy represented the two losses this year for Central Catholic.
Opelousas Catholic, seeded No. 15, advanced to the second playoff round after beating St. Edmund 54-20 last Friday night at Donald Gardner Stadium. OC (8-3) defeated St. Edmund (60-21) in Week 10 of the regular season, enabling the Vikings to win an outright district title for the second time in as many years.
Until the Week 10 victory over St. Edmund, the Vikings had limited five straight district opponents to 14 total points.
The victories featured Vikings’ senior running back-receiver Chris Brown and Devon Johnson, a freshman running back from St. Edmund.
In the two victories, Brown provided OCS with 480 total offensive yards and six touchdowns.
According to David Brown has over 1,200 yards total offense this year.
Johnson currently leads St. Landry Parish in rushing (1,795 yards), while setting the St. Edmund single-season rushing record previously established by David Nezat (1,744 yards).
The winner of the OCS-Central Catholic game plays either No. 7 Riverside or 10-seeded Ascension Catholic.
