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DELCAMBRE – The Delcambre Panthers opened District 7-2A play Friday night with a 58-0 home loss to the Loreauville Tigers.
The Panthers (3-3, 0-1) were overmatched from the start as Loreauville scored four touchdowns in the opening quarter and added a fifth seconds into the second quarter to take a commanding 36-0 lead with 11:55 to play in the first half.
 “It’s no secret they’re the better football team, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Delcambre head coach Artie Liuzza said.  
“We go out there every week trying to be the best team we can be.  We’re going to run into teams that are better than us, but we’re also going to play some teams we can compete with.  Our job is to get the team out there ready to win when the opportunity presents itself.”
Despite the lopsided score, the Panthers kept fighting for four quarters.  According to Liuzza, that’s a testament to the character of his team.
“The team’s character has been strong since last season,” Liuzza continued.  “We went 0-10.  We knew it was an investment year.  This was one of those investment games.  It’s not going to pay off tonight, but it will pay off in the future when you don’t give up and you keep pushing.”
Loreauville (1-4, 1-0) scored the game’s first touchdown in controversial fashion as Maddox Savoy fumbled the football at the Delcambre one-yard line.  The football bounced into the endzone where Logun Mouton appeared to recover it for Delcambre.  However, the officials ruled the Tigers recovered it for the touchdown.  The extra point made it 7-0 Loreauville.
The Tigers scored again on their next possession when Savoy took it in from 10-yards out.  The two-point conversion made it 15-0 with 4:16 to play in the first quarter.
On the Panthers’ next possession, Loreauville’s Blaise Romero picked off a Rix Robin pass and returned it inside the Delcambre 30-yard line.  This time, quarterback Hayden Benoit kept it himself for the touchdown and a 22-0 lead with 3:57 remaining in the first.
After forcing another Delcambre three-and-out, Kylon Polk fielded the punt and returned it back for another Loreauville touchdown.  The extra point made it 29-0 with 2:02 left in the first.
The Tigers added two more touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 42-0 halftime lead.  Delcambre only allowed two more touchdowns and a safety in the second half to provide the final margin.
The Panthers will be at home again next Friday for a matchup with the Catholic High of New Iberia Panthers, another district foe.

Leroy—North Vermilion head coach Roderick Moy prefers not to punt the football to the other team. He was that way at Abbeville High, and he’s still that way at North Vermilion.
It has now been two games since his team punted.
During the game on Friday, the Patriots encountered fourth down situations three times when they were more than five yards away from a first down at midfield. Each time, instead of punting, the team went for it. Each time they did, the offense successfully gained the first down.
However, the most significant time was in the final two minutes of the game, when the game was on the line.
The Patriots were driving, trying to eat time off the clock, and leading 36-29.
With 1:51 to play in the game and NV on the Comeaux 45-yard-line, the Patriots were facing a fourth down and needed five yards for a first down.
There was no guessing what Moy was going to do on fourth down.
Instead of punting, he called a play that called for running back Grant Wise to take the ball to the right side. Wise broke two tackles, and darted 15 yards for a first down, icing the 36-29 win for the Patriots (2-4).
Coach Moy explained his reasoning for not punting.
“Scared money does not make money,” Moy said. “We were not going to lose with our seniors and running behind our seniors. I am not leaving it up to the other team to win the game.”
The Patriots had success doing what they do best - run the football.
North Vermilion ran for 416 total yards.
Two players rushed for more than 100 yards.
Wise just missed rushing for 200 yards. He had 193 yards on 25 carries.
Preston Bagwell had 17 carries for 127 yards and two scores. Kamron Aubrey rushed for 58 yards on six carries. NV quarterback  James Higginbotham had nine carries for 38 yards.
Moy said he was confident about putting the game in the hands of his four seniors in the backfield. 
“Preston, Kamron, James and Grant , those four seniors, we are going to ride them until their legs fall off,” said Moy. 
In the first half, it looked like the Patriots were going to blow away the Spartans. They jumped out to a 13-0 lead, scoring on their first two possessions.
But then the game shifted with three minutes to play in the first half.
 Comeaux intercepted a Higginbotham pass in the NV endzone and ran it to the 1-yard line. The Spartans marched 99 yards with the help of their passing game and went in and scored as the half ended, making it a 13-6 game. Owen LeBlanc blocked the extra point, which proved to be significant.
Comeaux High’s momentum carried over into the third quarter as it took its opening second-half drive into the end zone. Once again, the Spartans missed the extra point but were down only 13-12.
The Patriots answered, however, and marched 70 yards on their next possession. Aubrey’s 42-yard run was the big play of the drive.
Wise ran up the middle for a nine-yard touchdown run that made it 20-12 with 8:08 to play in the third period.
After NV’s Noah Trahan and Chadler Richard teamed up to sack the Comeaux High quarterback on fourth down, the Patriots marched downfield to score a field goal.
Logan Blanchard kicked a 21-yard field goal to put the Patriots ahead 23-12  at the end of the third period.
NV’s Owen LeBlanc stopped Comeaux’s next drive with an interception, and the Patriots scored again two plays later.
Bagwell broke a couple of tackles and ran for 38 yards for a touchdown, making it 29-12 heading into the fourth period. 
Comeaux High made the game interesting when it scored quickly and had a successful onside kick. They would have to settle for a field goal and were only down 29-23 with nine minutes to play.
The Patriots responded on their next drive by driving  65 yards in nine plays.
The big play of the game was a fourth-down and nine on the 48-yard line. Moy was not punting. On the fourth-down play, Higginbotham rolled right and connected with Aubrey on a short reception downfield, which Aubrey turned into a 33-yard reception that set up a score. 
Bagwell scored from 11 yards out, which made it 36-23 with four minutes to play.
The Spartans scored their final touchdown with three minutes to play. They kicked an onside kick, and Bagwell recovered it at 2:49 left in the game.
Coach Moy said his players were not losing this homecoming game after what he saw when his players visited the elementary schools on Thursday.
“When we went to those community school pep rallies and the excitement we saw from those young kids, and I got to give my speech in front of my two kids,  we were not losing tonight, and we were not going down punting the football,” Moy said.

Vermilion Parish is taking steps to mitigate future storm surges by proposing a plan to install three floodgates on three navigable waters in lower Vermilion Parish and construct a dirt levee.
The Vermilion Parish Police Jury approved a Master Plan that calls for building a protection levee just north of the Intracoastal Canal and three floodgates to prevent storm surges from moving north from the Vermilion Bay.
The goal is to first build floodgates on the Bayou Tigre, Boston Canal, and the Vermilion River, located by Omega Protein. 
The floodgates for the Bayou Tigre and Boston Canal would each cost around $15 million, while the
floodgate for the Vermilion River is projected to cost around $70 million.
The three floodgates would cost nearly $100 million. The parish would seek federal and state funds to pay for the three structures.
This past week, members of the Vermilion Parish Coastal Restoration Board and police jurors visited South Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes to see what type of protection levee system the parishes have built over the last 20 years at a cost of $1.5 billion.
The levee system protects 250,000 people in two parishes.
The flood gates structures also helped bring down flood insurance rates to homes located inside the levee system.
The Vermilion Parish representatives on the tour saw different locks and floodgates built in the last 20 years.
Giving the tour was GIS Engineering, who designed the floodgates for the parishes. 
Vermilion Parish officials are looking to step up their game and develop a flood protection plan because of what is happening in Iberia and Cameron parishes.  
Cameron Parish recently built a $9 million levee that begins at the Vermilion Parish line. 
In the next two years, the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA)  will help fund a floodgate project on the Delcambre Canal in Iberia Parish, located south of the Intracoastal Canal.
The cost of the project could be around $20 million.
The floodgate will be a barge that will remain open for boat traffic. If a tropical storm or hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico causes flooding from a storm surge and floods Delcambre or the area south of Delcambre, the flood gates can be closed to prevent water from coming up the Delcambre Canal.
After Iberia Parish completes the floodgate building, it will move to Vermilion Parish.
CPRA officials will attend a police jury meeting early in November to introduce the engineering firm that will design floodgates or possibly an earthen dirt levee to be built in Vermilion Parish.
Vermilion Parish Coastal Restoration Board Vice President Chad Leger, who is also a police juror, enjoyed the tour.
“It was a nice tour,” said Lege. “We are able to see flood protection structures and I like their design. Vermilion Parish needs this. We also learned that these structures helped bring down flood insurance rates.”
Abbeville’s Cobb Lebouef, a member of the Vermilion Restoration Board, toured the structures. He said he would love to see three floodgates and a levee built.
The earthen dirt levee would protect homes in the Henry and Forked Island area and the agriculture industry south of Abbeville. 
“Vermilion Parish needs this to protect everything from homes, businesses, and its agriculture industry,” said LeBouef.

The following students were selected by the student body to represent North Vermilion High School as members of the homecoming court. Court presentations and crowning will take place on Wednesday, October 9 at 6:30 p.m. in Patriot Stadium. The annual homecoming parade will be Thursday, October 10 beginning at 5:30 p.m. The Patriots will take on the Comeaux Spartans on Friday, October 11 at 7 p.m. Queens Court: Sitting (left to right): Nicolina Filippi, Alexandra Gramby, Nylah Harrison, Camille Davidson, Ava Touchet, Annison Gardiner and Emerson Kelly. (standing, left to right) Mia Comeaux, Kennedie Breaux, Ava Denais, Alayna Chauvin, Mackenzie Turner and Kate Simon