Warriors hand Bearcats their first loss of the season

Going into their match-up against the Hamilton Christian Warriors, the Basile Bearcats knew that they were in for a tough game. The Warriors were 3-1 going into the contest Friday night and had shown to be a solid ball club through those first four games. However, the Bearcats are a veteran group and had faced games like this before. But the Warriors proved a little too much for Basile, as they handed the Bearcats their first loss of the season, 22-8.
The vaunted Bearcat offense came into the game averaging over 350 yards a game of offense on the season. The Warrior defense had a tough challenge trying to keep the Bearcat offense in check. Hamilton Christian, one could say, was successful in that endeavor, as they held Basile to 189 yards of total offense and only one touchdown. The Bearcats were able to pick up 163 yards of rushing, but could only muster 26 passing yards. The Warriors finished the night with 232 yards of offense, 92 of those yards were through the air.
The Bearcats may have known that they were in for a long night from the first time that Hamilton Christian touched the football. The very first play from scrimmage for the Warriors resulted in a touchdown. Hamilton Christian quarterback Julian Marcantel connected with Chris Elly on a 57-yard touchdown pass. Luke Rougeau added the extra point and the Warriors led early in the game 7-0.
Later in the quarter, with Basile backed up deep in their territory, the Warrior defense scored a safety by tackling Ceasar in his own end zone. With that safety, Hamilton Christian now led 9-0. That lead held for the rest of the first quarter.
The second quarter saw the Warriors add to their lead. Running back Deaundre Dejean plunged in from two yards out to add to the Hamilton Christian score. The extra point was no good. However, the Warriors had extended their lead to 15-0.
The Bearcats, showing their grit, clawed back into the game with a score mid-way through the second quarter. Gabe Fontenot dove in the end zone from two yards out and Basile now had points on the board.
The Bearcats elected to go for two. Once again Fontenot was able to cross the goal line and Basile had cut the Warrior lead to 15-8. This would be the Bearcats’ only score of the game.
Hamilton Christian tacked on another touchdown before half time. A 36-yard pass from Marcantel to Brandon Blackwell found pay dirt. Rougeau added on the extra point and the Warriors took a 22-8 lead into the half.
The second half did not produce any scoring from either team. The Bearcat offense was shut out and hope of another Basile comeback victory did not become reality.
In the game, Kendrick Ceasar led all runners with 132 yards on 20 carries. Gabe Fontenot added another 13 rushes for 44 yards. Mark Ivory completed five passes on 10 attempts for 26 yards and one interception. Leading receiver for the Bearcats was Devin Bazinet. Bazinet hauled in two catches for 23 yards.
Basile now holds a 4-1 record on the season. The Bearcats also fall to 1-1 in district play. Basile will host the South Cameron Tarpons on Friday in another district 4-1A contest. South Cameron comes in with a 1-4 season record and a 0-2 district record. The Tarpons lost to Grand Lake this past Friday by a score of 28-21.
No doubt Basile will regroup from this disappointing loss. Coach Bertrand and his staff will come up with a game plan for the Tarpons and the Bearcats will definitely be ready to execute that game plan. This team has been through the fire, and with a talented group of seniors, Basile will not let this defeat detract from the ultimate goal - the playoffs.