Vermilion Catholic starts off well against CHS, but can’t sustain it

Vermilion Catholic had the best start possible against Catholic High Friday night.
On the Panthers’ first possession of the game, Vermilion Catholic blocked a punt, and Travin Moore recovered it in the endzone for a touchdown and a quick 6-0 lead.
Even the missed extra-point after wasn’t too much of a letdown for the Eagles against the Panthers.
“Great job by our kids coming out on fire and making a big play early and getting that touchdown for us,” VC coach Broc Prejean said.
It was so big that Catholic High coach Scott Wattigny could feel it on the other sideline.
“You could just sense the momentum draining from our side and going to their side,” the Catholic High coach said. “That was a huge play for them.”
But something strange happened after that.
Despite the first big play going against them, Catholic High regrouped and came back right at VC while the Eagles seemed not to be able to take advantage of their good fortune to open the game.
The Panthers’ offense started clicking, and the Eagles’ offense never could get going and the result was Catholic High coming away with a 21-6 win to open the season as VC fell to 0-1.
The VC offense, which lit up scoreboards last season, was held to 12 yards rushing and only 38 yards passing in the game.
“A lot of that had to do with Catholic High,” Prejean said. “They had a good game plan, and they have some tough kids.
“We kept our defense on the field too much. As a result, we couldn’t move the chains on offense. But that’s stuff we have to work on. We know that it’s a work in progress.”
Marco Austin did most of the damage for Catholic High as the senior running back rushed for 169 yards on 24 carries and senior K.K. Reno scored all three touchdowns for the Panthers (1-0).
VC’s offense, on the other hand, couldn’t get going.
Quarterback Jonathan Dartez completed only 5-of-24 passes and rushed for 10 yards. Andre´ Poirrier rushed 10 times for 5 yards, and Chris LeMeunier had two catches for 39 yards.
But the Eagles’ only ran 46 offensive plays and held the ball for only 16 minutes in the game.
By contrast, Catholic High ran 68 plays and had the ball for more than 30 minutes.
“There are plays out there to be made, and that’s what we told the kids,” Prejean said. “The film is going to be a lot better than the field is. We need to make those plays.”
The Eagles almost made another great play just before halftime.
Vermilion Catholic blocked a Catholic High field goal, and the ball was picked up by Jake Lege, who took it downfield but was tackled at the two-yard line, just missing on another special teams touchdown on the night.
Prejean said he told the kids to put it behind them and get ready for Opelousas Catholic next week.
“That’s all there is to it,” the VC coach said. “Teams around here are going to see this and smell a little bit of blood in the water, and we have to respect that and understand that, and we have to look inward and make ourselves better.”
Prejean did have praise for two defensive linemen who played hard all game against the CHS rushing attack.
“They wore us down,” Prejean said. “Hats off to our two big boys (Will Allen and Zaine Campbell) for stepping up and playing the entire game essentially.
“I was real pleased with that. They will only get bigger and stronger as the season goes.”