Central High Football: A Tale of Two Halves

By Josh Walker

            Catholic looked to be in control of the game for the first 23 minutes, leading 12-0, but Central had other plans for the outcome. The Wildcats scored 27 unanswered points to take control and finished with a 34-19 win. Dalton Holdman intercepted a Catholic pass on the Wildcat 11 yard line with 2:30 left in the first half. This set up an 88-yard drive and a 17-yard pass from Brett Courville to Gary Triplet as time ran out in the half. Central stopped the Bears on the first drive of the second half and got the ball on their own 31-yard line. Three plays later, Courville connected with Triplet again on a swing pass for a 57-yard touchdown pass. From there, the Wildcats scored three more times on a Zach Evans 29-yard touchdown run, a Courville 7-yard touchdown run, and a 67-yard touchdown pass from Courville to Devon Gales.  The Wildcat offense gained 319 yards in the game (99 rushing, 220 passing). Courville ended the night with 11 completions in 17 attempts for 220 yards, 3 passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown. Zach Evans was the leading runner with 94 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown. Gary Triplet led receivers with 98 yards and two touchdowns. Devon Gales had 79 yards and a touchdown.

            The Wildcat defense was able to stop a very potent Catholic offense. They forced 3 turnovers (2 interceptions, 1 fumble), the biggest being the Holdman interception that prevented the Bears from going up 19-0.  Brodie Browning had a fumble recovery, and Paul Broussard had an interception. They also held one of the best running backs in the area in Khalil Thomas to 60 yards.  Joey Jarreau led Central in tackles with 5 while Antonio Ragusa, Jesus Acosta, Zach Hetrick, and Dalton Holdman each had 4 ½ tackles. Sophomore linebacker Dalton Holdman said, “The defense played an outstanding game and just had to hold on until the offense got into the game. After that, it was just lights out football.” Also worth noting is the play of the special teams. Sophomore kicker Jonathan Thibodeaux made all four of his extra points and improved to 10-11 on the season. Norwegian exchange student Martin Sandvik handles the kickoff duties, averaging 54 yards per kick. Finally, Hunter Edgens punted the ball for the first time Friday night, averaging 32 yards per punt and downing 3 of his 7 inside the twenty-yard line.

            After the game, Coach Dotson said, “This was a total team effort. We had some people step up today who haven’t played much up to this point. It goes to prove that you have to be ready when the time comes.” Coach also challenged the team to play a complete football game: to stop committing silly penalties and avoid other miscues. If the Wildcats continue to grow and build on this win, they will be in the district title race.