Wolves fall to LaGrange in district opener

RAYNE - The roster was a little shorter than usual for the Wolves Friday night as Rayne hosted LaGrange. That short list made a difference as the Wolves dropped their district opener to the Gators, 32-7.
”We had a few guys out tonight for one reason or another,” stated Rayne High Coach Curt Ware concerning six starters not playing Friday. “Needless to say, it did make a big difference as you can see by the outcome.”
“I hope to have a couple guys back next week,” Ware continued, “That will surely help.”
The Wolves were only able to muster 233 total offensive yards for the night (199 rushing and 34 passing), compared to LaGrange’s 357 total offense.
“We fell short probably in every area tonight,” Ware noted. “But, if we can collect ourselves and run our offense, we may be able to take a couple wins in the upcoming weeks.”
The Gators scored their first touchdown of the ballgame early on in the first quarter with a 32-yard completion. A missed fieldgoal put the score at 6-0 as the second quarter began -- the deciding quarter that saw LaGrange touch the endzone four times before the 26-0 halftime score.
The third quarter saw a couple of miss oppotunities slip by the Wolves, but the Rayne defense kept LaGrange at bay.
The lone score in the final quarter sawDarien Harmon intercept a LaGrange pass in the red zone, setting up a 78-yard touchdown run by teammate Deotrey Wilridge. The extra point by Ben Alverez closed the game at the 32-7 finale.
Wilridge led Rayne rushers with 16 carries for 135 yards, followed by Darien Harmon (8-33), Jaylon Reed (5-19) and Donald Doucet (4-14).
Reed was 6-for-20 for receivers totaling 34 yards for Wilridhe (3-31) and Harmon (2-9).
Leading the Rayne defense was Nicky Faucheaux with 8 tackles, 7 of them solos. Reed collected 7, Harmon and Brant Broussard each with 6, and Cameron Gibson, Jake Richard, Nick Boudreaux and Tony Gabriel each with 3. Collecting a couple were Richard Breaux, Zach Boudreaux, Jamien Evans, Carl Davis and Donald Doucet.
“You saw a lot of new names tonight,” as Ware commented of the number of underclassmen getting play time. “Like I’ve stated before, we have a young team with the majority of our players underclassmen. Tonight, a few more of our younger players saw the field -- not the way we wanted it to happen, but they played.”
The Wolves will hit the road on Friday when they travel to Leesville, a new district opponent added to their schedule this year. Kickoff is 7 p.m.