Bearcats run past Trojans in season opener

The Basile Bearcats used the one-two punch of Gabriel Fontenot and Kendrick Ceasar to pull away from the Sacred Heart Trojans Friday in the season opener for both teams. Basile scored 29 unanswered points in the second half, after trailing 7-6 at halftime, as Fontenot and Ceasar combined for 335 yards on the ground.
Sacred Heart won the toss and received the opening kickoff. Three straight runs by the Trojans put them in a fourth and one situation on their own 33 yard line. Coach Gary Adkins, showing confidence in his offense early in the game, decided to go for it on fourth down. “That is one thing we’ve told our kids, is that we are going to take some chances and you are going to win some and lose some just like in life,” stated Adkins. The Bearcat defense was up for the challenge as they stuffed Caleb Soileau for no gain and took over on downs. Nine plays later, Ceasar showed his nifty running ability, reversing field after initially being bottled up in the backfield and hit pay dirt from 10 yards out putting Basile up 6-0 with 6:24 left in the first quarter. The extra point was missed wide left off of the foot of Mark Ledoux. The big play on the drive was a face mask penalty on Sacred Heart, which put the ball on the Trojan 10 yard line.
The Trojans took possession of the ball at their own 42 yard line after the short kickoff from Ledoux. Sacred Heart’s offensive line began asserting themselves on their second drive of the game. The Trojans drove the ball all the way down to the Basile 15 yard line and faced a fourth and five deep in Bearcat territory. The one lone pass in the drive was a 15 yard toss and catch from Phillip Vidrine to tight end Seth Shipp. Once again the Basile defense stiffened and stopped Vidrine one yard short of the first down to take over on the change of possession.
Basile’s next possession was very self destructive as they were flagged for holding on consecutive downs. A 13 yard swing pass from Mark Ivory to Ceasar brought about a fourth and five for the Bearcats at the Trojan 49 yard line. The Trojan defense flexed their own defensive muscles, as they cut down Fontenot a yard short of the first down.
Sacred Heart took over on downs and made excellent use of the tremendous field position. The Trojans wasted little time in putting up points of their own. An illegal motion penalty on first down moved the ball back to the Trojan 42 yard line. Caleb Soileau was brought down for a four yard loss on first and 15. With time ticking down in the first half, Vidrine drilled a perfect veer pass to Dylan Scully, who exploded down the seam for a 62-yard touchdown reception. Bevan Dupre was true on the extra point and Sacred Heart led 7-6 with 4:11 left in the first half. Both teams could not do any more damage in the half and the Trojans took the lead into the locker room.
Basile received the second half kickoff and took control of the game from the opening drive. Starting from its own 34 yard line, the Bearcat running game began chewing up the gridiron yard by yard. Eleven plays later Fontenot took the handoff on the right side and scored from three yards out. Up 12-7 with 7:38 left in the third quarter, Coach Kevin Bertrand made the decision to go for two. Once again, Fontenot took the ball off of the right side and willed his way in for the two-point conversion, giving the Bearcats a 14-7 lead they never relinquished. All of the damage on the drive came on the ground, as Fontenot and Ceasar alternated carries on the 66-yard drive.
The “Do or Die” attitude of the Sacred Heart Trojans was very evident on their next possession. The Trojans put together an impressive nine-play, 63-yard drive after taking the ensuing kickoff up to their 27 yard line. However, on fourth and two on the Basile 10 yard line, the Trojan running back Garrick Fontenot was stopped for no gain by the stingy Bearcat defense. This was the third time in the game that Basile held on fourth down. The Bearcats took over on downs and took over the game, as they wore down the Sacred Heart defense on the ground, driving 90 yards in 14 plays to extend their lead to 21-7 with 7:27 left in the third quarter. Ceasar danced his way around the left side for the score and Ledoux capped off the drive when the extra point sailed through the uprights. Ceasar carried the ball seven times for 61 yards on the drive, while Fontenot added 29 more yards on six rushing attempts.
Although down by 14 points with a little more than seven minutes left in the game, Sacred Heart still had enough time to mount a comeback. The Trojans took over at their own 26 yard line after the Ledoux kickoff and worked their way down to the Basile 25 yard line in six plays. Once again a miscue on the option play resulted in a Sacred Heart turnover as the ball was stripped from Vidrine on first and 10.
So, with 5:22 left to play, it looked like Basile would be able to control the ball and try to run the clock out. However, a defensive stand by the Trojans forced the Bearcats to punt on the ensuing possession. Needing something big, Sacred Heart’s special teams took matters into its own hands. The Trojan rush resulted in a blocked punt and Sacred Heart was in business as they recovered the ball on the Basile 15 yard line with 3:07 left in the game.
The Trojans ran three plays, gaining seven yards, and faced a fourth and three from the Bearcat eight yard line. Quarterback Josh Lahaye rolled to his right trying to throw a pass but was forced to pull the ball down and keep it himself. The Basile defense, for the fourth time in the game, stopped the Trojans short of the first down marker and took over possession at their own seven yard line with 2:13 left in the game. Basile put the nail in the proverbial coffin on the very next play, as Gabriel Fontenot busted loose for a 93-yard touchdown run. On the extra point attempt, Raymond Bushnell, the holder, kept the football around the right side on the fake and scored the two points to put Basile up 29-7 with 2:00 left.
The final points of the contest came via the Bearcat defense. With Sacred Heart in possession of the football on the Basile 42 yard line, Lahaye rolled to his right to attempt a pass. As he raised his arm to throw the ball, Lahaye was drilled and lost possession of the pigskin. Devin Bazinet scooped up the football and raced 45 yards to the end zone for six points. The snap on the extra point was bobbled and the try-after touchdown was no good. With 1:11 left, Basile led 35-7 and sealed the victory.
Basile Head Coach Kevin Bertrand was obviously pleased after the game, even with the amount of holding calls that went against his team. “We weren’t really panicking about the holding calls,” stated Bertrand. “Those penalties were effort penalties. They were called against kids trying to block down field. We told our kids at half time they have to understand when the back has passed them up they don’t need to make the block anymore.” According to Bertrand even with the one-point deficit at half time, Basile never overreacted during intermission. “Our kids were confident coming out of half time,” said Bertrand. “They were really focused at the half and knew that we were a better team than what we showed in the first half. The players were really confident coming out in the second half and it showed.”
The Bearcat ground game was on point throughout the game, as Basile gained a total of 363 yards rushing on 42 carries. Leading rusher for Basile was Fontenot who carried the ball 19 times for 177 yards. Ceasar tacked on another 158 yards on 22 carries. The Bearcats only attempted five passes, completing two for 25 yards.
Leading the way for Sacred Heart on the ground was Dylan Scully who had seven carries for 37 yards. LaHaye was 5-10 passing for 76 yards. Seth Shipp led all receivers catching five passes for 69 yards. “We moved the ball well on offense against Basile, but we just did not finish it,” Sacred Heart Head Coach Gary Adkins said. “When you get down inside your opponent’s territory, you have to finish those drives off. These are things we can build on and get better at. I think their tradition and those guys knowing how to win kind of overcame us tonight in the fourth quarter. Overall, I was very proud of the effort our kids gave. Our players never quit and gave everything out on the field.”
Basile is now 1-0 on the season and will face Ville Platte High next Friday in Basile. Ville Platte is also 1-0 after defeating Westminster by the score of 38-9. Sacred Heart (0-1) will square off against long-time rival Opelousas Catholic in Opelousas on Friday. Opelousas Catholic is 1-0 after beating Port Barre 40-12.