Bobcats roll past Tigers

By John Burson

Sports Writer

The Eunice High Bobcats overcame an early touchdown deficit to take a 42-20 victory over the Opelousas High Tigers in the District 4-4A opener for both teams.

The Tigers took a 7-0 lead midway in the first quarter when Collins Roberts returned a fumble 62 yards for a touchdown and Michael Caskey kicked the PAT.

Coach Paul Trosclair’s Bobcats answered the Tiger challenge with a 68-yard, 11-play drive for a touchdown. Darious Richard capped the drive with an 8-yard run. The Cats trailed 7-6 when the PAT attempt failed. Key play of the drive was a 22-yard run by Jake Sonnier.

The Bobcat defense forced a three-and-out to give the ball back to its offense at the Opelousas 47. 

It took the Cats nine plays to drive for a touchdown, with Triston Frye scoring on a two-yard run and holder Jake Sonnier passing for two points to Brennan Ashley for a 14-7 lead.

On their next possession, which followed another three-and-punt by the Tigers, the Cats drove 45 yards in five plays for their third touchdown. 

Darious Richard ran nine yards for the score and Hebert kicked the PAT for a 21-7 lead with 5:56 remaining in the first half. 

A key play on the drive was an 11-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Alex Richard to Scotty Bihm.

The Tigers got a score with a two-play drive covering 65 yards following the kickoff. A personal foul face mask penalty on the Cats put the football on the Eunice 49. 

On the next play, quarterback KeAndre Jones executed a bubble screen pass to Mandell Sam, who took it all the way to the end zone. The PAT kick was blocked, but Opelousas had cut the Eunice lead to 21-13 at the half.

The Bobcats received the second half kickoff and promptly drove 66 yards in eight plays for a touchdown. 

Big plays on the drive included runs of 18 and 16 yards by Darious Richard, who capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run.

The Bobcats would add to their lead on their next possession, driving 67 yards in four plays for a score. 

Richard, who finished with 177 yards on 19 carries, scored his fourth touchdown of the game with a run of four yards. 

Hebert nailed the PAT kick for a 35-13 lead.

After forcing a punt and taking possession at their own 28, the Cats would again drive for a touchdown, going 72 yards in 10 plays. 

The touchdown came at the 11:40 mark of the fourth quarter on a 12-yard pass from Alex Richard to Jerwaski Thomas. Hebert’s PAT kick gave the Cats a 42-13 lead. 

Key plays on the drive were Richard passes to Sonnier and Travis Godfrey, covering 30 and  10 yards, rewspectively.

The final touchdown of the game came with 2:03 left in the game. Opelousas High’s Daniel Milburn returned a fumble 54 yards for a touchdown. Caskey kicked the PAT to make it 42-20.

In addition to Richard’s 177 yards of rushing, Chris Johnson added 66 on six carries for the Bobcats. Frye rushed 11 times for 49 yards.

Coach Trosclair was pleased with the way his team played in the third quarter. 

“We did a better job in the second half and finished with a strong effort on both sides of the ball.”