St. Martin Parish teams close out regular season football action for 2009 this week, with Breaux Bridge and Cecilia aiming for playoff berths in the Class 4A division. The St. Martinville Tigers, with a 1-8 record, are out of the post-season picture. The Bridge and Cecilia both lost last week and dropped in the power ratings. BB coach Mike Mowad said Monday his team (5-4, 4-1) is unofficially rated around No. 19 and it’s uncertain at this point how a victory over Beau Chene (2-7, 0-5) this week might affect their ranking. “There are lots of unknown factors that will affect the final rating,” he said. “But it’s important that we win this week.” The Bulldogs, who nearly pulled off a major upset of District 6-4A champion Northside last Friday, slipped to somewhere between 24 and 27 (only the top 32 teams earn playoff berths, with the first 16 landing home field advantage). The ’Dogs (5-4, 3-2) face Teurlings Catholic (4-5, 3-2) this Friday, a team that is also battling for a playoff berth. Cecilia Despite the questioning of fans regarding some of the officials’ rulings in last Friday’s 7-6 loss to Northside, coach Terry Martin said Monday that a review of the game film showed that the officials made all the right calls. “It was one of those games where it was just a shame that anybody had to lose,” he commented. “That last play (in which the Bulldogs were stopped just one inch short of what would have been the winning TD) should have never happened. It would have been hard for me to accept the victory if we had scored,” he added. But despite the bitter disappointment of losing such a close game, Martin said he couldn’t be prouder of this team. “It was a great effort, actually the first time this year that the kids played lake a true team. But it was a very, very tough loss.” The game was a very physical one that left three or four starters pretty banged up. “None of the injuries appear to be serious,” Martin said Monday. “And we’re sure hoping everyone will be ready to go on Friday.” Cecilia and Teurlings Catholic have very similar records; both are 3-2 in district play, having each beaten Beau Chene, St. Martinville and Opelousas while losing to Breaux Bridge and Northside. Cecilia has averaged 22.1 points per game while the Rebels are scoring at a 22.4 pace. Defensively, the Bulldogs have given up 187 points while TC has yielded 197. The two schools have met 19 times over the years, with Teurlings having won 11 games and Cecilia six (two contests ended in ties). “There’s a lot at stake in this game,” says Martin. “They’ve got a very talented sophomore quarterback, some excellent receivers and great skill guys. We need to control the ball as much as possible to keep their offense off the field. I just hope we can draw up the same kind of intensity we showed against Northside. It’s a very important game, as a loss would likely put us at No. 31 or 32 in the power ratings, a position you really want to avoid.” The game is set for 7 p.m. at Clark Field. Breaux Bridge Just about everything that could have gone wrong did in Breaux Bridge’s 37-14 loss to Class 5A Acadiana in the rain last Friday, from fumbles to special team breakdowns. “I would have preferred to play them on a dry field,” coach Mowad said Monday. “But they had to play on the same wet field, so we’re not using the weather as an excuse.” The Tigers close out their schedule with a Thursday night game against Beau Chene, a team that has no district wins and is 2-7 for the year. “You can’t ever take a game for granted, and we sure don’t want our kids looking past Beau Chene,” he added. “We need a win badly for our power rating standings. It’s Senior Night so we’re hoping for a good crowd.” Senior lineman Chance Thibodeaux is out for the year after suffering a broken hand during warm-up drills last Friday. St. Martinville Missed opportunities once against torpedoed the Tigers as they took a licking in what was likely their best chance for a second victory in a long season, suffering a 20-0 shutout at the hands of Opelousas, which improved its season record to 2-7 while SM fell to 1-8. The ’Ville plays league champion Northside on the road Friday and goes into the game as a big underdog. The Opelousas field was a wet and muddy mess and the outcome was unfortunately a repeat of most other Tigers games. “Fumbles and penalties did us in once again,” said coach Marc Broussard Monday. “We got inside their 15 at least four times and couldn’t get any points.” The Tigers face one of the area’s top teams Friday for the season finale. “They’re very athletic with lots of speed,” observes Broussard. “They’re very well coached and they’ve really opened up their playbook this year. But our kids still have a good attitude and I know they’ll give it their best shot on Friday.”

St. Martin Parish teams close out regular season football action for 2009 this week, with Breaux Bridge and Cecilia aiming for playoff berths in the Class 4A division. The St. Martinville Tigers, with a 1-8 record, are out of the post-season picture. The Bridge and Cecilia both lost last week and dropped in the power ratings. BB coach Mike Mowad said Monday his team (5-4, 4-1) is unofficially rated around No. 19 and it’s uncertain at this point how a victory over Beau Chene (2-7, 0-5) this week might affect their ranking. “There are lots of unknown factors that will affect the final rating,” he said. “But it’s important that we win this week.” The Bulldogs, who nearly pulled off a major upset of District 6-4A champion Northside last Friday, slipped to somewhere between 24 and 27 (only the top 32 teams earn playoff berths, with the first 16 landing home field advantage). The ’Dogs (5-4, 3-2) face Teurlings Catholic (4-5, 3-2) this Friday, a team that is also battling for a playoff berth. Cecilia Despite the questioning of fans regarding some of the officials’ rulings in last Friday’s 7-6 loss to Northside, coach Terry Martin said Monday that a review of the game film showed that the officials made all the right calls. “It was one of those games where it was just a shame that anybody had to lose,” he commented. “That last play (in which the Bulldogs were stopped just one inch short of what would have been the winning TD) should have never happened. It would have been hard for me to accept the victory if we had scored,” he added. But despite the bitter disappointment of losing such a close game, Martin said he couldn’t be prouder of this team. “It was a great effort, actually the first time this year that the kids played lake a true team. But it was a very, very tough loss.” The game was a very physical one that left three or four starters pretty banged up. “None of the injuries appear to be serious,” Martin said Monday. “And we’re sure hoping everyone will be ready to go on Friday.” Cecilia and Teurlings Catholic have very similar records; both are 3-2 in district play, having each beaten Beau Chene, St. Martinville and Opelousas while losing to Breaux Bridge and Northside. Cecilia has averaged 22.1 points per game while the Rebels are scoring at a 22.4 pace. Defensively, the Bulldogs have given up 187 points while TC has yielded 197. The two schools have met 19 times over the years, with Teurlings having won 11 games and Cecilia six (two contests ended in ties). “There’s a lot at stake in this game,” says Martin. “They’ve got a very talented sophomore quarterback, some excellent receivers and great skill guys. We need to control the ball as much as possible to keep their offense off the field. I just hope we can draw up the same kind of intensity we showed against Northside. It’s a very important game, as a loss would likely put us at No. 31 or 32 in the power ratings, a position you really want to avoid.” The game is set for 7 p.m. at Clark Field. Breaux Bridge Just about everything that could have gone wrong did in Breaux Bridge’s 37-14 loss to Class 5A Acadiana in the rain last Friday, from fumbles to special team breakdowns. “I would have preferred to play them on a dry field,” coach Mowad said Monday. “But they had to play on the same wet field, so we’re not using the weather as an excuse.” The Tigers close out their schedule with a Thursday night game against Beau Chene, a team that has no district wins and is 2-7 for the year. “You can’t ever take a game for granted, and we sure don’t want our kids looking past Beau Chene,” he added. “We need a win badly for our power rating standings. It’s Senior Night so we’re hoping for a good crowd.” Senior lineman Chance Thibodeaux is out for the year after suffering a broken hand during warm-up drills last Friday. St. Martinville Missed opportunities once against torpedoed the Tigers as they took a licking in what was likely their best chance for a second victory in a long season, suffering a 20-0 shutout at the hands of Opelousas, which improved its season record to 2-7 while SM fell to 1-8. The ’Ville plays league champion Northside on the road Friday and goes into the game as a big underdog. The Opelousas field was a wet and muddy mess and the outcome was unfortunately a repeat of most other Tigers games. “Fumbles and penalties did us in once again,” said coach Marc Broussard Monday. “We got inside their 15 at least four times and couldn’t get any points.” The Tigers face one of the area’s top teams Friday for the season finale. “They’re very athletic with lots of speed,” observes Broussard. “They’re very well coached and they’ve really opened up their playbook this year. But our kids still have a good attitude and I know they’ll give it their best shot on Friday.”