Cecilia gets off to fast start, beats BB

Bulldogs set scoring marks for Civil War victory over rival Tigers

– The Cecilia High Bulldogs had been wanting to get off to fast starts in their football games all season.

The Bulldogs did just that on Friday in their annual “Civil War” with the Breaux Bridge Tigers, scoring three firstquarter touchdowns on only six plays on their first three possessions on the way to a recordsetting 59-0 win at the Dawg Pound.

“Our kids stepped up this week,” Cecilia head coach Cody Champagne said after the ’Dogs got off to a 1-0 start in District 5-4A play. “Our big emphasis was starting fast, and I think we did that tonight.”

Cecilia’s 59 points scored surpassed the team’s previous high of 56 scored against Breaux Bridge (set in 2024) and the 59-point margin also was the biggest in series history, surpassing a 40-point win by Breaux Bridge in 1957 (40-0) and Cecilia’s previous high of a 38-point margin in 2024’s 56-18 win. Breaux Bridge scored 54 points against the Bulldogs in 2013, the most points for the Tigers in the series.

The scoring started early for the Bulldogs (2-4 overall). After forcing a punt on Breaux Bridge’s first possession, Cecilia scored on its first offensive play, a 31-yard touchdown throw from Collin Dore to Jermaine “JJ” Davis Jr., who took the ball behind the line of scrimmage along the left sideline and went untouched to the end zone for the quick lead. The point-after kick by Jace Knott made it 7-0 with 10:10 left in the opening period.

Cecilia forced a turnover on downs on the next Breaux Bridge possession, and on the second snap after taking over, Dore again threw short to Davis, who sprinted untouched up the sideline for a 6-yard touchdown catch. The PAT was no good but Cecilia led 13-0 with 7:17 to go in the first quarter.

Another Breaux Bridge punt set up a third quick scoring possession for Cecilia, this time a 33yard keeper by Dore, who raced untouched to the end zone for a 19-0 lead following the missed 2-point try with 3:44 to go in the first quarter.

“That was our biggest Achilles heel especially on the offensive side, in the first five games I think we only scored 21 points in the first quarter in those five games,” Champagne said. “That was a big emphasis — we’ve got to start fast. Every other quarter after that it’s like 50 or 60 points. We’ve got to start doing that, scoring points in every quarter.”

Breaux Bridge could get little offensive consistency throughout the game, finally getting things going on its last possession in moving from its 18 to the 45 before an interception by Cecilia’s Broderick Patt Jr. ended the game.

Baylon Champagne and Shawnee Lewis each rushed for 24 yards to pace the Tigers (1-5, 0-1) offensively. QB Caynon Ardoin completed five of 15 pass attempts for 30 yards with Isaiah LeBlanc catching four throws for 28 yards.

“To me it’s still about realizing the process,” BBHS coach Tyler Pierce said. “We had a little bad luck with a few out this week kind of banged up. We had some guys sick. We’re not a team right now that can say we can rest guys and at the end of the week plug them in.

“We’re only three months into this offense that isn’t a complicated offense, but it’s not an offense where you can just go out there and out-athlete somebody. It’s a systematic approach. And defensively we’re asking guys to do some stuff that they’re still a little bit unsure about themselves.”

The Tigers also are starting a lot of young players, and even some of the upperclassmen haven’t played a lot of football.

“We started about five freshmen I guess tonight,” Pierce said. “Our freshman games aren’t on Wednesdays. Our freshman games for a lot of them are on Fridays. It’s tough because you want it so bad for them. You want it so bad for the seniors. But there’s a difference between a team like this where you’re loading them up with a bunch of young guys, especially on defense, and you’re going up against a juggernaut like Cecilia.”

Cecilia punted for the only time on its next possession, but recovered a Breaux Bridge fumble at the Tigers’ 35-yard line to set up another three-play scoring drive, this time finished off by a 17-yard scoring run from Malik Joseph with 9:50 left in the first half. The PAT by Knott made it 26-0.

The Bulldogs added two more scoring drives in the half, a five-play series following a turnover on downs and a threeplay series after an interception by Chase Narcisse.

The third Dore-to-Davis connection of the half, an 18-yard pass play with 3:44 remaining, made it 33-0 following Knott’s point-after.

Davis had a career night with four catches for 119 yards and three touchdowns. Dore completed five of nine pass attempts for 128 yards and three TDs and rushed for a team-high 69 yards and a touchdown on only three carries.

“Dore’s starting to run the offense well,” Champagne said of his starting quarterback. “Even (Braylon) Calais (who plays some quarterback as well as running back and receiver), too. They’re starting to understand what we have and what we need to throw. They’re both getting good at that.”

Deondre Briscoe added an 18-yard scoring reception from Braylon Calais with 2:42 left and Knott made the pointafter kick for a 40-0 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs added a touchdown on their initial series of the second half, a three-yard run by Calais at the 6:40 mark of the third quarter. The point-after by Knott made it 47-0 and triggered the automatic running clock rule, which goes into effect when one team builds a 42-point lead over its opponent in the LHSAA ranks.

Briscoe capped off Cecilia’s next possession with a 21-yard TD run at the end of the third quarter to make it a 53-0 lead.

Briscoe added 64 yards and a touchdown on six runs to his lone reception, the TD from Calais.

Calais ran for 38 yards and a touchdown on seven carries and completed two of three pass attempts for 45 yards and a TD.

A final touchdown on Kaleb Journet’s 37-yard fumble return with seven minutes left in the game made it a 59-0 margin. The Tigers blocked the PAT kick.

The Bulldogs continue District 5-4A play on Friday at Beau Chene. The Gators are 1-5 overall and haven’t played a district game yet.

In its first five games, Cecilia faced four teams with no losses and one team with a 3-1 record at the time of their meeting. Those teams are a combined 16-9, including three 5-1 teams through six weeks.

“We’ve just got to keep getting better,” Champagne said. “Playing those first five games made us a lot better. We’re in district play and we’ve got to continue to get better and live up to the standard.”

Breaux Bridge steps out of district on Thursday to play host to Northside (4-2) before finishing up with league games against Beau Chene, Opelousas (on the road) and Livonia.

“We can (be competitive against those teams),” Pierce said. “Truthfully, as crazy as it sounds, I’m still confident about what we could have done tonight. We still have yet to match that energy and intensity that we played with in week 2 (a win over 2024 Division II Select state champion Vermilion Catholic). That wasn’t a fluke. We just have gotten out of sorts, and my biggest challenge as a coach is getting that layer back to build that confidence back up.”

(Robby Bishop)