VC leaves it all on the field

NEW ORLEANS — Vermilion Catholic High School head football coach Broc Prejean couldn’t have been more proud of his team’s effort following the LHSAA’s Division IV Select state championship football game Thursday night in the Caesars Superdome.
The Screaming Eagles had just suffered their only loss of the season, 28-14 at the hands of Ouachita Christian School, but fought to the end and continued to give the kind of effort he expected from a team led by a dozen seniors, most of whom started the entire season, Prejean said at the postgame press conference. The coach was accompanied at the press conference by linebacker Ashton Belaire, quarterback Jonathan Dartez and receiver Ross Dartez.
“I’m so proud of our guys,” Prejean said. “I’m so proud of the grit and determination they showed. Really and truly, it’s one of the first times we’ve trailed all year, and the poise and character they showed in those moments is what tonight is about for me. I’m proud of the character of these kids, I’m proud of the senior group, I’m proud of the underclassmen, the community, how well they traveled.
“We’ve had 13 really, really good nights this year, and we’re not going to let this one kind of tough one overshadow all of that success. It stings. I’m disappointed for these young men sitting next to me, but man, they did put a lot of smiles on peoples’ faces this year.”
Prejean added that his team left everything on the field, the way they planned to.
“I know 100 percent the guys on my left and the guys in the locker room have tears in their eyes,” Prejean said. “They gave us what they had. I’m going to sleep fine tonight knowing that. I’m proud of those kids. We have absolutely no regrets.”
“That’s what we’ve been doing all season,” Belaire said. “We left it all on the field all season. It just didn’t roll our way tonight.
VC, which was earned the No. 1 seed in the Division IV playoffs, and OCS, which was the No. 3 seed, both finished 13-1 on the year. Ouachita Christian won its eighth state title and its sixth under head coach Steven Fitzhugh. VC has won two championships.
“First of all I’d like say congratulations to Coach Fitzhugh and Ouachita Christian,” Prejean said. “They played a heck of a ballgame. They were impressive team to watch on film and they were even more impressive in person.”
Four Vermilion Catholic turnovers proved to be the difference in the game. VC out rushed Ouachita Christian 144-114, but was outgained 215-96 in the air and 329-240 overall.
OC took the lead on its first possession after an interception at the Ouachita Christian 35-yard line. The pickoff at first was ruled incomplete but a lengthy video review by the officials overturned that call. It was one of three reviews during the game.
OC marched 65 yards in 12 plays to get to the end zone, with running back Zachary White getting three 10-plus yard carries on the series and quarterback Landon Graves finishing the drive off with an 11-yard TD run at the 3:01 mark.
Vermilion Catholic had trailed only twice all year before that, falling behind Ascension Episcopal 3-0 in the first quarter in Week 2 before winning 48-24, and trailing Covenant Christian 6-0 on a fumble recovery for a TD in the first quarter of a Week 6 game that VC won 57-6.
VC answered that OC touchdown with an 11-play, 68-yard scoring drive, featuring a 36-yard pass from Jonathan Dartez to a wide-open Dane Richoux to the Ouachita Christian 20. Dartez capped the drive with a two-yard TD run on fourth-and-goal and Richoux’s PAT made it 7-7.
Neither team could sustain a scoring drive for much of the remaining 10-1/2 minutes of the half with the teams combining for five punts and one interception. A final punt by VC that was downed at the OC 15 with 42 seconds remaining, but a 45-yard pass from Graves to Tate Hamby brought the ball to the Vermilion Catholic 23, and Graves found Drew Dougan over the middle for the TD on the next play with 10 seconds to go to give the OC Eagles a 14-7 lead. Graves went 19-for-25 for 215 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 16 times for 39 yards and another TD.
“Graves is a heck of a quarterback,” Prejean said. “He’s been doing it for a while. I think he was responsible for 110 touchdowns to date at Ouachita Christian. We knew they were going to put some points up. We didn’t bury our heads in the sand and think that wasn’t going to happen. But they just made some plays when they needed to make them.”
C.J. Briggs led the Eagles with eight tackles, including seven solo stops, while Belaire, Lewis Briggs Jr. and Travin Moore each had seven tackles.
“I think in the first half we didn’t play very good. That was the worst first down we’ve played, and we were still down only 14-7, so I was really pleased with the first half,” Jonathan Dartez said. “The second half we just committed turnovers, and like coach Broc said, they scored off them.”
OCS added to its lead with a fumble forced by Colton Alford and recovered by Maddox King at the VC 41. A fourth-down keeper by Graves kept the drive going, and four plays later, White went untouched on a 16-yard run for a 21-7 lead. White finished the game with 95 yards on 16 carries.
“No. 11 (White), man he ran tough,” Prejean said. “The kid ran tough all night. He was tough to bring down with one guy. We said this week we wanted to make them sustain drives, and not give them any big plays, and I think we did a really good job of that. You hope that if you make teams sustain drives that you can create a turnover here and there, and we were mighty close to stepping in front of a few balls, we just couldn’t pick the angle.”
Another turnover, this one an interception by Broc Hogan at the OC 4-yard line, led to a 96-yard scoring drive that chewed up 7:29 of the clock. Graves connected with Dougan for a second TD, this one covering five yards, for a 28-7 lead. Hogan, who was voted the Outstanding Player for the game by the media, had two interceptions.
VC made the final 28-14 when Zandon Bessard forced a fumble that Allen McLain III returned 65 yards for a touchdown with 3:02 to go.
“I just wanted to say this year has been the most fun year in sports I’ve ever played,” Jonathan Dartez said at the end of the press conference. “I’ll remember pretty much everything we’ve done on the field.”
“I’m grateful that I’m fortunate enough to have this profession,” said Prejean, who was a member of VC’s first state championship team in 2003. The Eagles added a second title in 2013. “I’m grateful to be at my alma mater. I’m grateful to coach and teach these young mean and be in the community. I’m an Abbeville kid and VC kid at heart, and for me, being on that field with them was truly special. I’m grateful for the sacrifice these kids have made since June and the relationships that they’ve created, and also amongst each other and also amongst our coaching staff.”