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The No. 1 Vermilion Catholic Eagles completed their third-consecutive 10-0 season Friday with a 49-7 thumping of the Westminster Christian-Lafayette Chargers.
The Eagles (10-0, 4-0) have now won 35-straight regular season games. While that’s a remarkable feat, VC head coach Broc Prejean is focused on his present team and what they’ve accomplished.
“This year’s team going 10-0 is special,” Prejean said. “The kids have been consistent from week one to week 10, and really, dating all the way back to June when we got in the weight room. It’s a remarkable accomplishment, especially when you add up what we’ve done in previous years. This team has been super special to watch.”
The Eagles are now district champions for the seventh straight year.
VC jumped ahead 7-0 only 15 seconds into the game when Allen McLain III fielded the opening kickoff and raced 96 yards down the sideline for the score.
The Chargers then went on a clock-eating 18-play drive that had the Eagle defense on its heels. The defense stiffened in the red zone and forced a turnover-on-downs at the 16-yard line.
“When you go up against the veer and you’ve never seen it, it’s tough to get your feet wet and really understand it,” Prejean explained. “We knew those first couple of drives were going to be tough. Kudos to the defense for keeping them out of the endzone.”
While the defense found its footing, the VC offense struggled to move the ball after watching most of the first quarter and were forced to punt.
VC senior defensive back Jyrin Bessard, who was seeing his first action since week two due to an injury, set the house on fire when he intercepted a Chargers’ third-down pass and took it back 55 yards for the touchdown. The pick-six put the Eagles ahead 13-0 with 10:10 to play in the first half.
“The ball went through the receiver’s hands and came straight to me,” Bessard said. “It had to be mine and nobody was catching me.”
After the Eagles’ defense forced a three-and-out, VC quarterback Jonathan Dartez took the first snap 59 yards for the touchdown. He also ran in the two-point conversion to make it 21-0 with 7:21 remaining in the half.
On the Chargers next possession, Bessard struck again. His second interception gave VC first-and-ten at the Westminster 39-yard line.
On first down, the Eagles went to their bag of tricks. Dartez took the snap and pitched the ball to Will Simon who ran to his right, stopped, and launched a pass to a streaking Bessard for the touchdown to put VC ahead 28-0 with 6:54 left in the half.
“It’s been hard,” Bessard explained. “It’s my senior year and I had to wait eight weeks. I had some steam built up. I had to let it all out tonight.”
The Eagles offensive explosion continued as they scored two more touchdowns before the end of the half. Dartez hit Hudson Hebert from 38-yards out to make it 35-0, and then took it himself from 17-yards out to give the Eagles a 42-0 halftime lead.
Dartez led the Eagles’ rushing attack with 114 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries. He completed five-of-seven passes for 110 yards and three scores.
Hebert led the Eagles’ receivers with two catches for 47 yards and a touchdown. Bessard also had two catches for 39 yards and a score. McLain III added a 24-yard touchdown reception.
Now the Eagles turn their attention to the playoffs. They are the number one seed and will enjoy a first-round bye. According to Prejean, that’s where the road to the dome begins.
“It starts with having a good bye week,” Prejean said. “For us that means getting rested, getting healthy, and fine tuning some things. Once we find out who we play, it’s giving them that total respect and focus. That’s what it’s going to take for the next five weeks.”

One Vermilion Parish football coach is not panicking after learning the LHSAA will delay the release date of the postseason brackets.
The brackets are usually released on Sunday morning but may be available until Wednesday at the earliest.
North Vermilion head coach Roderick Moy said he is not worried about the delay.
“We are going to begin preparing for our next opponent based on the power rating,” Moy said Friday night.
According to GeauxPrep.com, the top 28 make the Non-Select Division II playoffs. 
According to Geaux Prep, the Patriots have a power rating of 23. If they remain No. 23 after Saturday, they could play No. 10 Bell Chase (8-2), No. 9 Iota (8-2), or No. 11 Northwest (8-2).
The delay won’t mess up Vermilion Catholic and Erath because they both have byes in the first round.
According to Geaux Prep.com, VC is ranked No. 1 in the Select Division IV power ranking and received a bye in the first round.
VC could be playing the winner of No. 16 Westminster Christian (7-2) and No. 17 Delta Charter (7-2) in the second round. 
Erath, in Division III Non-Select, is No. 2 and will also get a bye in the first round.
Erath could play the winner of the No. 15 Loreauville (4-6) and No. 18 Marksville (5-5)  game. 
Kaplan is No. 8 in Non-Select Division III and may be playing No. 25  North Webster (3-7) at home in the first round.

The LSHAA released a statement explaining why the delay.

The LHSAA’s statement is below:

“The Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) will delay the release of the 2024 postseason football brackets due to ongoing litigation with one of our member schools. This situation could affect all 307 schools that participate in football across the state. Given the possible repercussions of the decision made, the LHSAA will withhold all eight postseason brackets until the legal process is concluded and the matter is fully resolved. We appreciate the understanding and patience of our member schools and fans as we work through this important issue.“

No reschedule date has been announced.

The Advocate reported that the school involved in the ongoing litigation is University High in Baton Rouge. U-High initiated a lawsuit in the 19th Judicial District Court of Baton Rouge on Friday morning, which led to the suspension of playoff brackets.
University High has been mandated to forfeit seven victories due to two players being deemed ineligible. In response, University High is seeking a temporary restraining order to contest the ruling made on Monday.
A hearing is set for Nov. 18, and the playoffs will come after the case is settled. The LHSAA is actively looking to facilitate an earlier court date. The timeline of the hearing could potentially impact Caesar’s Superdome being the host of state championship games.

LEROY – The No. 13 North Vermilion Lady Patriots ended a seven-year playoff drought Wednesday with a three-set victory over the No. 20 Plaquemine Lady Green Devils in the Bi-District Round of the 2024 LHSAA Division II Volleyball Playoffs, 25-8, 25-5, 25-14.
The Lady Pats (15-6) advanced past the first round for the first time since 2016. They had lost six consecutive playoff games. For head coach Ashly Boudreaux and the senior class, ending that streak was the goal.
“They had something to prove,” Boudreaux said. “We went through the history books and learned it had been seven years since North Vermilion won a volleyball playoff game. They made up their minds they were going to end it, and they did.”
Senior Libero Mackenzie Turner still can’t fathom that their dream is now their reality. She credited the work they put in and their head coach for pushing them.
“When coach Ashly came in, she had us working all day, every day, as much as we could,” said senior Libero, Mackenzie Turner. “We worked so hard since our freshman year for this. We still can’t believe we just won a playoff game. This is so amazing.”
North Vermilion stormed out of that gate and never let up. They jumped out to a 5-0 lead in set one, expanded it to 18-8 and then scored the last seven points of the set to take a 1-0 lead.
The Lady Pats kept the momentum going in the second set, jumping out to an 8-4 advantage. NV then went on a 13-0 run to take a commanding 21-4 lead. They outscored the Lady Green Devils 4-1 the rest of the way to go up 2-0.
In the final set, NV jumped out to a 10-7 lead before going on another run. The Lady Pats again scored 13-unanswered points to open a 23-7 lead. This time Plaquemine put up a fight, outscoring NV 7-2 the rest of the way. But it was too little too late as NV won the set by 11 and the match 3-0.
In round two, North Vermilion will be looking to make history as the they’ve never won a second-round match. From 2013-2016, they lost four-consecutive matches in the second round. They will play the winner of No. 4 Lakeshore and No. 29 A.J. Ellender.
“We’re going to have to show up with the same intensity and play our hearts out,” Boudreaux said. “They play tomorrow night, and anything can happen, but we’ll probably play Lakeshore. They beat STM earlier this year, and we’ll have to travel there.
“We’re ready to play a 1, 2, 3, or 4. We’ve already played with those teams this year. We know what to expect. If we want to win, we’ll have to keep doing what we been doing. We’ll have to stay together and play our hearts out. It can be done.”
A second-round win is almost too much for Turner to comprehend.
“We’ll be jumping over rainbows,” she exclaimed.

Vermilion Parish Police Jury President Mark Poché stated that when Vermilion Parish voters rejected the renewal of two tax proposals in April, the police jury did not effectively promote the renewals.
In an unexpected move, the jury placed the two defeated tax renewals back on the ballot. Fortunately, the second attempt was successful, as parish voters approved both renewals on Tuesday.

Here are the parish propositions.

Parishwide Proposition – 3.26 Mills Renewal
“Shall the Parish of Vermilion, State of Louisiana (the “Parish”), continue to levy a special tax of 3.26 mills on all property subject to taxation in the Parish (an estimated $1,106,600 expected at this time to be collected from the levy of the tax for an entire year), for a period of 10 years, beginning with the year 2025 and ending with the year 2034, for the purpose of maintaining and keeping in repair the public roads and highways of the Parish?”

Here are the results of the Nov. 5 election:

Yes – 14,056 (57 percent)
No – 10,707 (43 percent)

Sub-Road District No. 1 of Road District No. 2 – 5.06 Mills Renewal
“Shall Sub-Road District No. 1 of Road District No. 2 of the Parish of Vermilion, State of Louisiana (the “District”), continue to levy a special tax of 5.06 mills on all property subject to taxation in the District (an estimated $416,700 expected at this time to be collected from the levy of the tax for an entire year), for a period of 10 years, beginning with the year 2025 and ending with the year 2034, for the purpose of maintaining the roads in the District?”

Here are the results of the Nov. 5 election:
Yes – 3,287 (53 percent)
No – 2,885 (47 percent)