Trojans exorcise the Demons

In the foyer of Sacred Heart High School there is a sign that reads “Through these halls walk the finest people in the world… Our students.” Many of whom returned to the Halls of Troy Friday for homecoming as a new queen Elizabeth Soileau was crowned. The Mamou Green Demons converged on Soileau-Landry Field the same night with hopes to crash the Trojan party. It looked like they would succeed for a half, but the “Do or Die” spirit of the Trojans prevailed in the end with a final score of 28-14.

            Garrick Fontenot and Dylan Scully set the tone early for the Trojans. Fontenot carried up the middle for a gain of 4-yards on the first play from scrimmage. Scully and Fontenot combined for three consecutive 1^st down rushes that brought the Trojans down to the Mamou 30-yard line. After a gain of 4-yards by Scully, Fontenot busted up the middle for another 1^st down. The momentum switched sidelines after a Trojan timeout as Mamou took over on downs. Daniel Matthews of Mamou did his part to quell the Trojan attack.  The momentum; however, did not stay on the Mamou sideline long as the Trojans recovered a fumble on the Green Demon 21-yard line. Scully, Fontenot, and Seth Shipp combined to get the Trojans inside the red zone. Scully marched into the end zone with 4:23 remaining in the 1^st quarter. The Trojans led 6-0 after a missed extra point attempt.

            The Green Demons went 3-and-out on the next series. The Trojans would then knock on the door of the 50-yard line before Joab Perron (who suffered a high ankle sprain in the opening game against Pickering) recovered a Trojan fumble giving the Green Demons 1^st-and-10 on the Trojan 40-yard line.

            Green Demon quarterback Dylan Duplechain thus began his ground attack. He rushed 8-yards setting up a 1^st-down conversion on the part of Kendal Jack. Nicholas LaHaye dropped Duplechain back for a loss of 6-yards.  Duplechain then connected with Daniel Matthews bringing the ball to the Trojan 14-yard line. After a short gain, Ellis LaHaye brought Duplechain down short of the 1^st-down marker. Matthews then carried down to the 3-yard line followed by a quarterback keeper into the end zone. The point after attempt was successful giving the Green Demons a 7-6 lead.

            The Trojan quarterbacks combined for a ground attack of their own on the next possession. Josh LaHaye rushed for a gain of 8-yards setting up 2^nd-and-2 at the Green Demon 35-yard line. After a conversion on the part of Garrick Fontenot, Phillip Vidrine ran another quarterback keeper for a 1^st-down down to the Green Demon 23-yard line. The Trojan drive would stall as Jacob Israel stood tall for the Green Demons on back-to-back snaps. The Green Demons would take over on downs.

            Mamou drove down into Trojan territory. As the Trojan drum line played the theme to The Pink Panther, Jacob Lafleur weaseled his way behind the Green Demon line knocking down Duplechain to set up a punt.

            A facemask penalty against the Green Demons added 15-yards to the end of Dylan Scully carry bringing the football to the Trojan 48-yard line. Caleb Soileau bruised his way down to the Green Demon 41-yard line. After a short gain, Phillip Vidrine kept the football down the right side to the 25-yard line. Two plays later Vidrine kept the football again running this time into the end zone with 2:05 remaining in the half. The Trojans would fail to convert the 2-point play; thus, bringing the score to 12-7.

            Following an illegal shift penalty, Dylan Duplechain connected to Jacob Israel bringing the football into Trojan territory. Ellis LaHaye and Wacen Fontenot combined to set up a 4^th down before Nathaniel Holland converted giving the Green Demons the football at the Trojan 26-yard line.  Kendal Jack would then find pay dirt with 4 ticks of the clock remaining before halftime giving the Green Demons a lead of 14-12.

            Trojan head coach Gary Adkins commented after the game, “We had trouble getting the ball in the end zone it seemed like in the 1^st half. But I knew we could move the ball on them, and we did.”

            The 2^nd half began with the Green Demons punting the ball into the end zone for a touchback. Dylan Scully turned on the jets for an 80-yard touchdown run down the right side. At the 11:10 mark of the 3^rd-quarter, the Trojans led 20-14.

            The Green Demons would fail to take advantage of recovered fumbles and other Trojan miscues resulting in them punting on three consecutive possessions. The Trojans found momentum again on the tandem of Fontenot and Scully. The two carried the ball down to Green Demon 12-yard line before Scully received a Josh LaHaye pass in the end zone. The two-point conversion attempt to Seth Shipp was successful for a Trojan lead of 28-14 with 5:02 remaining in the contest.

Sam Tuminaro would then leave his mark on the night. The subsequent kick off was stuffed at the Green Demon 40-yard line when Tuminaro brought down the return man. Ellis LaHaye finished off the Green Demon attack with a 10-yard loss on a sack. The clock expired with the same 28-14 score on the scoreboard.

Adkins went on to say, “The way we won is really impressive. It wasn’t easy. We had to fight the whole way. We were down by 2 points at half time and just came back. Every win’s a great win, but when you win them like this it’s pretty special.

The mood was more somber on the Mamou sideline after the game. Green Demon head coach Brian Brumfield “thought (his) kids played hard.” He went on to say, “We were in the game until the end, but at some point we need to be able to flip that switch and take control of the game … Our kids played hard. I’m proud of them. They did a good job, but we’re going to have to be able to learn how to win.”