Run game, pass game both efficient in 50-40 win
St. Martinville – St. Martinville got its offense in high gear Friday and made just enough plays on defense to claim a 50-40 win over the Abbeville Wildcats on homecoming night.
The win keeps the Tigers solidly in the playoff picture as SMSH is currently 22nd in the Division II Non-Select LHSAA power rankings. The state’s high school athletics organization uses its power rankings to seed teams for the playoffs with the top 28 teams in the division getting a postseason bid.
“It was the run game,” SMSH coach Garret Kreamer said. “Whenever you’re able to run the ball it opens everything else up. You don’t want to be one-dimensional.”
The Tigers pounded the Abbeville defense with its power running game led by Kohen Clues in the first half, augmented by quarterback Khyrie Francisco’s running.
Clues carried seven times for 30 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and finished the game with 44 yards and three TDs on a dozen carries. Francisco ran 16 times for 38 yards on the night, not counting three kneel downs at the end of the first half and the fourth quarter.
That opened up the passing game, where Francisco was a scorching 10-for-11 in the first half for 172 yards and a touchdown. He finished the game going 13 of 20 for 223 yards including the TD.
“Khyrie got hot,” Kreamer said. “He started making the right reads and had good throws and good decisions. So I’m proud of him for that. That’s what we’ve got to do . We’ve got to be able to run the ball and play turnover free.”
Senior receiver Kervin Fontenette Jr. played a huge role in the passing game as well, with seven receptions for 154 yards, including a 54yard TD catch.
Fontenette said he worked to get open against the Wildcats. He made several adjustments to the path of the ball on the night.
“Just head fakes, the routes, just making them crisp, running fast,” Fontenette said.
St. Martinville got on the scoreboard with its defense on the first snap of the game when Abbeville quarterback Kobe Vital coughed up the ball and Payton Nelson recovered and returned the fumble for the touchdown. The pointafter by Logan Bienvenu made it a 7-0 game only 12 seconds into the first quarter.
SMSH then scored on its first four offensive possessions of the game, with only a oneplay kneel down at the end of the half snapping that streak.
Clues scored on runs of two and six yards in the first quarter to help the Tigers build a 2014 lead heading into the second.
Abbeville, which scored on a 35-yard pass from Dazavian Maze to Cameron Samuels and a kickoff return on an onside kick attempt to stay close, took the lead in the second quarter with a quick five-play scoring drive capped off by running back Justin Montgomery’s threeyard touchdown run. The 2-point conversion by Maze gave AHS a 2220 lead with 11:21 left in the half.
“We play a lot of mancoverage,” Kreamer said. “That’s part of our defensive scheme. You might give up some of those (big plays). Down the stretch I would’ve liked to see us not give up some of those plays. We had some penalties. We had some special teams miscues that we’ve got to clean up. We’ve got to be better in the future.”
But Francisco found Fontenette open behind the defense on the next series for a 54-yard scoring strike and the Tigers surged ahead again, 26-2 at the 9:06 mark.
Kristian Batiste ended Abbeville’s next drive with an interception in the back of the end zone, and St. Martinville then drove 80 yards in 11 plays to extend their lead to 33-22. Francisco completed all four of his pass attempts in the drive for 57 yards and Clues scored his third touchdown of the night on a six-yard carry with 43.3 seconds on the clock.
The Tigers chewed up nearly 4 1/2 minutes of clock to start the second half but missed a field goal with the chance to add onto their lead.
But SMSH forced a three-and-out with a punt and then got a 29yard field goal from Bienvenu to make it a 3622 game with 4:56 left in the third quarter.
The St. Martinville defense came up with another scoring play on the next Abbeville possession when Ja’Korey Blanchard picked off Maze at around the 41yard line and returned the ball to the house for a touchdown and a 4322 lead with 3:27 left in the third quarter.
Abbeville responded with a touchdown drive capped by Maze’s 13yard pass to Jacolby Campbell to close to within 43-28, and an interception — the Tigers’ only turnover of the night — stopped the next St. Martinville drive.
Fontenette returned the favor only four plays later, stepping in front of a receiver at the 3-yard line and returning the ball to the 14 to end an Abbeville scoring threat.
“I just read the quarterback,” Fontenette said. “I read his eyes. I knew where he was going from the jump and I just picked it off.”
The Tigers turned that into a 13-play scoring drive with senior running back Shannon St. Julien doing most of the damage, carrying 12 times for 83 yards on the possession, including a 13-yard scoring run. St. Julien averaged seven yards a carry on his 14 runs for the game, finishing with a team-high 98 yards. He had five carries of 10 yards or more, and all but two of his runs were in the second half.
“That was good to see,” Kreamer said of the effective run game. “I’m proud of our offensive line. That’s what we want to be able to do is just pound the rock. Man, that makes things easier offensively, I’ll tell you that much. If we can continue that moving forward, I think our offense can do good things.”
The PAT by Colton Bonin made it a 50-28 lead.
Abbeville again returned a kick for a touchdown, this time going 62 yards, and added a 28-yard TD pass from Maze to Campbell to pull to within 10 in the final minutes.
“I’d like to see us finish the game a little better,” Kreamer said. “If I was upset about anything tonight, it was that. I just want to see us finish a little better.”
“It’s a big win, especially since it’s homecoming,” Fontenette said. “Going into the playoffs after this next game, we’re feeling good.”
St. Martinville closes the regular season out Friday at home against Kaplan (5-4, 0-2 district).
“We’ve got to keep the energy up,” Fontenette said. “We’ve got to focus on some things in practice. We’ve got to focus on tackling. Offensively we need to work on some things too but we’re going to fix it this week.”
The Tigers will be without linebacker Zyrion Johnson, who injured his leg the previous week and is out for the remainder of the season.
“We’re missing Zy,” Kreamer said. “He was a big-time leader for us at middle linebacker. But guys are stepping up for us. Were getting some guys back we didn’t have against Erath, so that was huge for us tonight for sure.”
