Vermilion Catholic faces 2-0 Loreauville on the road Friday

The Vermilion Catholic Eagles face their third opponent from District 7-2A in three weeks on Friday when they travel to Loreauville to face the undefeated Tigers at 7 p.m. on Friday.
And as if Catholic High of New Iberia (1-1) and Ascension Episcopal (1-1) weren’t tough enough challenges, Loreauville is coming off wins over Class 3A Erath (45-34) and 2A DeQuincy (13-0).
“They’re playing pretty good ball right here,” VC head coach Broc Prejean said. “They had a great good win over what we know is a solid Erath squad in week 1, and then a shutout win over DeQuincy last week. And we’re going to their place, which we know is a tough place to play. We know Loreauville is going to play a really strong game. Each week as the season evolves, teams get better. Loreauville, in our opinion, presents the toughest challenge so far. It’s going to take a lot better effort than what we had last week.”
The Eagles beat AES on Dane Richoux’s field goal with five seconds to go. Quarterback Jonathan Dartez ran for a school-record 359 yards on 31 carries in the game and scored three touchdowns in a 30-8 win.
“An exciting win, obviously an exciting way to finish a game off,” Prejean said. “I’m just proud of our kids’ resolve. A few times we were trailing in the game but the guys were able to rally around each other and make some plays down the stretch to get a ‘W,’ so we’re super happy about that.”
Prejean said he didn’t know until after the game how many yards Dartez had rushed for.
“I knew he had a good night rushing,” Prejean said. “It’s not something we track or follow throughout a game, but we ended up needing every one of them, so I’m proud of the effort from him and the offensive line and (running back) Tyjh Williams paving the way for what ended up being a pretty historic night.”
Loreauville seems to be the typical type of team one expects the Tigers to be, Prejean said.
“When you play Loreauville, you know you’re going to see size and you know you’re going to see hard-nosed, downhill football, and that’s been their M.O. for decades,” Prejean said. “That’s what we anticipate. We know it’s going to be a physical football game. They’re running a two-quarterback system that seems to be really effective for them. Both guys are impressive on film. Their defensive line is towering over the O-lines they’ve faced so far, so there’s a lot of challenges that are going to present themselves on Friday.”
The two quarterbacks are similar in what they do.
“My understanding is that coach (Terry) Martin is trying to find out if one of them is going to separate (himself from the other to be a better option), and so far they’ve both played really outstanding football,” Prejean said. “We’re going to prepare for both of those guys to be in the game, and adjust where we need to.”
With a tremendous defensive line and a lot of big bodied returners there, the Eagles must avoid being a one-dimensional offensive attack, Prejean said.
“We’re obviously going to have to distribute the ball a little bit better this week and get some other guys involved, and execute a great offensive gameplan,” Prejean said. “We have some dynamic athletes. Our wideouts are doing a great job in what we ask them to do, but we also know that they can do things with the ball in space. Tyjh Williams is right there. We’re looking to see Tyjh get going fairly soon, and thinking he’s going to have that big breakout game sooner rather than later. We’re going to distribute the ball. Our offense still runs through our quarterback, and he’s a pretty good one. But we definitely want to get more guys involved.”