VC viewing game at Central Catholic as district title fight

There are still two games left in the regular season, but the Vermilion Catholic Screaming Eagles are treating Thursday’s game against Central Catholic in Morgan City as the District 7-A championship game.
VC and CCHS are the only two teams without a loss in the district.
“They’re always formidable,” VC head coach Broc Prejean said. “That’s a very proud program over there. They got a big win over their rival Hanson last week. They’re 6-2, they’re just a team that’s steady and consistent. They’re always going to be in the mix, and really and truly I think the dstrict title’s on the line this week. It’s going to be a big matchup.”
VC is 8-0 overall and 4-0 in district after a 57-14 win over Centerville. Central Catholic is 6-2 and 4-0 after beating parish rival Hanson Memorial 29-8.
“Defense did a great job,” Prejean said. “They forced a lot of turnovers and then did some damage once they got the ball in their hands. Really and truly, it led to three scores, so we’re very pleased with that.
“We’ve done a great job of late of forcing turnovers and winning that battle.”
That resulted in a short field for the offense for much of the night.
“The offense was very efficient and explosive,” Prejean said. “I think four of the first five drives were one-play offensive drives, so that’s always a great thing.”
Prejean said cornerback Jyrin Bessard did a great job covering a really good wideout for Centerville.
“And then I thought our linebackers did a great job of making the pass game really tough on them,” the coach said. “Will Simon stepped in front of one (pass), but our whole second half that defense did a really good job Friday.”
Thursday’s game will be played at Morgan City’s Tiger Stadium starting at 7 p.m.
CCHS All-State running back Damondrick Blackburn graduated last year and signed with UL Lafayette, leading to a change in offense for the Eagles.
“They’ve got some great players,” Prejean said. “I think they were a little bit more feature-oriented last year with Damondrick Blackburn (running the ball frequently), but it’s kind of forced them this year to distribute the ball more and get a lot more guys involved (since Blackburn’s departure), and they’ve done a good job of that. You can’t really key on one guy, which is what makes thing a little bit tougher.”
CCHS is about 50-50 running and passing the ball on offense, he said.
Vermilion Catholic also has been a strong team with both the pass and the run this season.
Quarterback Jonathan Dartez leads the parish with 846 yards passing and 11 touchdowns, and also leads the parish with 1,152 yards and 16 touchdowns rushing.
Though he’s put up big numbers, several of his offensive teammates also have been shining.
Running back Tyjh Williams is third in the parish with 702 yards and a dozen touchdowns on only 74 carries, averaging 9.5 yards per run.
Receiver Ross Dartez tops the parish with 349 yards and three touchdowns on 17 catches. Williams has 123 yards and a TD on nine catches, while Jonathan Dartez has 11 yards and a TD on five catches and Dane Richoux has 104 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries. Bessard adds 94 yards and two TDs on six receptions with Ethan Landry (6-78) and Andrew Prejean (2-72, 2 TDs) also over 70 yards on the season.
Dartez is first in the parish in scoring with 98 points and Williams is third with 74. Richoux, who also is the placekicker for the Eagles, is fifth with 54 points.
“We’ve been blessed and fortunate to remain as healthy as we have so far,” Prejean said. “That’s a credit to the offseason program and a credit to our trainers and our staff, so we’re in a good position right now.”