Breaux Bridge falls to Northlake Christian, 37-7

Tigers open district with Civil War game vs. Cecilia

– The scoreboard didn’t reflect the effort that the Breaux Bridge High Tigers put into their homecoming game against Northlake Christian School on Friday. For the third straight week after a strong 38-27 win over Vermilion Catholic, the Tigers struggled to stop their opponents from scoring, giving up five touchdowns to the visiting Wolverines in a 37-7 loss on Friday.

But even while playing shorthanded with a lot of inexperienced players stepping into prominent roles, the game didn’t feel the same as the previous two losses, 35-7 to St. Martinville and 35-0 to Kaplan, BBHS head coach Tyler Pierce said.

“Look, we’re asking a lot out of some of these guys that weren’t even on the team last year, and the scoreboard didn’t reflect it, but this was not the same feeling like we had the past two weeks. It shows we’re going in the right direction.

“I think the mindset was better. We had a little bit better of a week of practice. It’s just staying on top of what we can control, which is our effort and what we can do in practice.”

Northlake Christian (2-2) took advantage of a fumble recovery to get on the scoreboard first.

Quarterback Sam Grant scored on a 22yard run on the third play following the fumble, his only carry of the night, and Kameron Casnave ran the ball in for a 2-point conversion and an 8-0 lead with 9:04 left in the opening quarter.

The Wolverines made it 16-0 on their next possession, driving 54 yards in just five plays following a punt, with Casnave scoring the first of his four touchdowns on an 11-yard run at the 5:09 mark. Casnave also added the 2-point run for a 16-0 lead.

Breaux Bridge chewed up more than 10 minutes of clock on its next possession, a 79-yard, 21play drive that spanned the rest of the first quarter and early six minutes of the second quarter to get on the scoreboard.

Baylon Champagne, who had 12 carries on the drive for 52 yards on the drive, scored on a two-yard run with 6:03 to go in the half. Myles Renard kicked the point after to cut the score to 16-7.

But the Wolverines tacked 15 points onto their lead in six plays to put the game out of reach, with Casnave racing 55 yards on the second play following the kickoff to extend the lead to 22-7, then recovering a fumble on the kick back to BBHS. Four plays after that recovery, Casnave scored on a 10yard run and added the 2-point run for a 29-7 lead going into the half.

Casnave added a three-yard TD run after the Wolverines stopped Breaux Bridge on a fourth-down try inside the Tigers’ 40 for the final points.

Casnave finished with 143 yards and four touchdowns on 11 rushes, leading the Wolverines to 261 yards on the ground. Northlake threw only four passes, completing two.

Champagne led the Tigers with 74 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Shawnee Lewis added 40 yards on 13 rushes.

LeBlanc completed six

(Robby Bishop)

of eight pass attempts for 41 yards with Austin Balderas catching three for 31 yards and Dakowen Celestine catching three for 10 yards.

The Tigers travel to nearby Cecilia for the annual Civil War game, which this year opens District 5-4A play for both squads.

“You shouldn’t have to get anybody hyped whenever you’re playing within district, and of course, a rivalry, so I think this is a perfect week for us to start district and say ‘this is why all those little things matter,’ because it’s going to take everything we’ve got to go slay a giant, basically,” Pierce said. “It’s 0-0 (in district). That’s what the kids have to understand.”