SM Tigers beat Breaux Bridge 35-7 to sweep two rivals
St. Martinville – The St. Martinville Senior High School football team chanted “Parish Champs” following a 35-7 win over Breaux Bridge on Friday night, then sang “Happy Birthday” to senior running back Shannon St. Julien, who led the Tigers with 158 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
SMSH went 2-0 against their parish rivals this season, opening the year with a 34-29 win over Cecilia before handling Breaux Bridge in Week 3 to improve to 2-1 on the year. Breaux Bridge fell to 1-2 with Friday’s loss.
After a scoreless first quarter, St. Martinville took control of the game with two big special teams plays within a two-minute span in the second quarter.
A SMSH drive ended with a sack at the Breaux Bridge 20 early in the second quarter.
But BBHS could not muster a first down and St. Martinville pressured punter Caynon Ardoin into a short kick.
Senior defensive back Kristian Batiste picked the ball up on a hop behind the line of scrimmage and returned it untouched for a 19-yard touchdown return with 8 minutes left in the half. The point-after by Logan Bienvenu gave SMSH a 7-0 lead.
Breaux Bridge took over at its 20 following the kickoff, and again was forced to punt after three plays netted only five yards.
Another good punt rush led to a tipped punt that Batiste again fielded on a hop following a 3-yard net kick, and returned it 28 yards to the end zone with 6 minutes remaining for his second touchdown TD return in two minutes.
The 14-0 lead that St. Martinville took into the half was too much for Breaux Bridge to overcome as SMSH limited the visiting team to 193 total yards.
“I was shocked,” Batiste said of seeing the ball bounce in front of him twice near the line of scrimmage. “I didn’t know it was going to come, but it came.”
“I’m proud of our special teams unit,” SMSH head coach Garrett Kreamer said. “We got pressure on the punter and he shanked it, and Batiste made a heads up play to pick it up and go with it. And it happened two times in a row. It’s pretty crazy.
“But I’m proud of that kid. He’s been working hard. He’s a good one, so I’m glad he got in the end zone tonight.”
Breaux Bridge coach Tyler Pierce said he thought the two teams were fairly evenly matched heading into the game but knew that special teams could make a difference.
“I told the kids in the gym for the walkthrough that it could be a special teams play here or a special teams play there, and of course that’s a difference of 14 points,” Pierce said. “I have to tip my cap to what they’re doing over there. They beat us. They beat us tonight.”
St. Martinville ran for 275 yards and had 366 total yards, paced by St. Julien’s big night.
“Props to the O-line blocking hard and the running backs,” Kreamer said. “It was our running back Shannon’s birthday. He had a big night running the ball. I’m proud of him and all the work he’s put in.”
SMSH started the second half off strongly, stopping Breaux Bridge on a fourthand- eight play from the 42 and then marching to the end zone in five plays after an unsportsmanlike penalty set them back 15 yards to start the series.
St. Julien carried the ball on four of the five snaps, gaining 63 yards in the series and scoring on an 11-yard carry. Quarterback Khyrie Francisco went 1-for-1 on the drive for 10 yards to Ky’lun Skipper.
SMSH scored on its next possession as well, driving 57 yards in seven plays and overcoming two penalties that cost them 25 yards. Francisco scored on a three-yard keeper with under two minutes left in the quarter for a 28-0 lead.
St. Martinville extended its lead to 35-0 in the fourth quarter on a 33-yard scoring run by Kohen Clues with 6:49 left in the game.
Clues finished with 45 yards and a TD on four rushes. Julien Stewart had 36 yards on four carries and Francisco ran eight times for 29 yards and a TD.
Francisco also completed seven of 14 pass attempts for 87 yards, with Kervin Fontenette catching two for 47 yards and Skipper catching three for 39 yards.
Breaux Bridge answered with a sevenplay, 72-yard scoring drive to avert the shutout.
Isaiah LeBlanc had four carries on the series for 41 yards, including a 30-yard carry and a one-yard run for a TD. LeBlanc had nine carries for 45 yards on the night and two pass receptions for 28 yards.
Baylon Champagne led Breaux Bridge with 108 yards on the ground on 21 rushes.
“No regrets,” Pierce said. “We could have easily folded it in but the offense went and scored. That to me is everything. We’re so close, but tonight we just didn’t do enough.”
St. Martinville limited BBHS to 193 total yards, including only 23 passing.
“It was a good game plan defensively,” Pierce said of St. Martinville. “You’ve got to tip the cap to what they did. For us, though, north and south is what we’re built for. We’re still making adjustments. We know our personnel and what they’re built for. Those edges, boy they stopped them. They’re fast. They’re good.”
Parish
Batiste said the Tigers feel great after going 2-0 against their parish rivals.
“Amazing,” he said. “We’ve been working all week for this, working all season for this. We need to keep the momentum up, keep practicing hard and keep following our coaches. That’s it.”
St. Martinville travels to Baton Rouge this week to face Parkview Baptist, which is an uncharacteristic 0-3 with losses to Dunham, Prairieville and Iowa, which are a combined 9-6 on the season.
Kreamer said the Tigers must keep working in order to continue to have success.
“We’ve got to stay healthy, first and foremost,” Kreamer said. “And then we’ve got to just keep working, trust in our plan, believe in it, and just keep playing physical football.
“We’ll celebrate this one tonight, but get on the film tomorrow morning on Parkview Baptist. We know they’ve got a good ballclub. We’ve got to come ready to play and we’ve got to travel over there, so we know we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Breaux Bridge will hold its homecoming game on Friday when the Tigers play host to Kaplan (2-1) at 7 p.m.
“It’s back to the drawing board,” Pierce said. “I think we had a decent week of practice (heading into the St. Martinville game).”
