Wolves down Bobcats, 20-13

The Rayne High Wolves took advantage of two Eunice High fumbles to earn a 20-13 victory over the Bobcats in Friday night 4-4A action at Bobcat Stadium.
Eunice High head coach Paul Trosclair felt his team battled the Wolves throughout the game.
“Our defense shutout Rayne in the second half”, said Trosclair. “We played hard on both sides of the football. The difference in the game came down to turnovers.”
The Wolves took an early lead by taking the opening kickoff and driving 64 yards in 15 plays for a touchdown.
The drive was capped by John Michael Besse’s three-yard run. Key plays on the drive were Deontrey Wilridge’s runs of 14 and 12 yards.
The PAT failed but Rayne led 6-0.
The Cats answered back with a scoring drive of their own. Taking possession at their own 34 after a 17-yard return by Paul Zachary, the Bobcats drove 66 yards in seven plays for a touchdown. Darin Serie, who had a 15-yard run during the drive, ran 22 yards for the score. John Ardoin added two 12-yard runs during the drive. Wesley Hebert kicked the PAT to put the Cats on top by a 7-6 margin.
The Wolves responded on their next possession, driving 63 yards in 10 plays to regain the lead.
Quarterback Jaylon Reed scored the touchdown on a one-yard run. Besse converted the PAT with a run to put the Wolves ahead by a 14-7 margin.
The Bobcats attempted to respond after receiving the kickoff.
Junior Nick Powell ran for 24 yards on two carries and Alex Richard added two carries for 11 yards as the Cats moved to the Rayne 38. But one a fourth-and-seven at the 33-yard line, Richard fumbled the ball as he was hit behind the line and Rayne’s Hunter Keely picked up the fumble and ran 58 yards for a touchdown.
Eunice’s Travis Godfrey blocked the PAT kick, but Rayne held a 20-7 lead.
The Bobcats began their next drive from their own 43 and moved advanced down the field to the Rayne 9-yard line.
Highlighting the drive with runs of 9 and 8 yards was Triston Frye, but a fumble on a third-and-four at the 9-yard line put the Cats at the 12 facing a fourth-and-seven. The Cats failed to convert.
The Bobcat defense forced the Wolves to punt, giving the Cats the football. A personal foul penalty by the Wolves gave the Cats the ball at the Rayne 29 with just under two minutes remaining.
Richard completed passes Terryl Poullard and Godfrey for 23 yards and again to Poullard for three yards to move to the three-yard line. Richard scored the touchdown with 21.3 seconds left in the half.
The PAT kick was blocked but the Cats had cut the lead to 20-13.
The second half began with both teams punting on their initial possessions.
The Bobcats got the ball at their own 27 and on second down picked up 32 yards on a Richard to Godfrey pass.
The Cats moved to the Rayne 30 but a holding call put them back to the 40 and a fumbled exchange between Richard and Powell was recovered by the Wolves to end the drive.
Momentum swung to the Wolves, who smartly moved the field in six plays for a first-and-goal at the Bobcat 5-yard line.
The Bobcat defenders would stop the Wolves on four downs at that point to turn the ball over to their offense.
But the Cats were unable to move the ball out of their territory on the possession and the following two possessions, giving the Wolves a 20-13 victory.
Wilridge finished with 104 rushing yards on 25 carries to lead Rayne.