Broussard shines in Crowley's victory over Rayne

CROWLEY – Pate Broussard may only be a sophomore, but he definitely looked like a seasoned veteran Thursday night in the Crowley Gents’ 52-48 come-from-behind victory over Rayne at Gardiner Memorial Stadium.
The youthful first-year starter showed poise in the pocket and was even more deadly when he rolled out, completing 18 of 28 pass attempts for a season-high 345 yards and seven touchdowns.
His performance was more than enough to earn him the top spot on this week’s edition of Grid Stars.
“I think the most impressive thing about Pate’s performance was that he was coming off of two kind of subpar performances and, Thursday, he just kind of showed his character and his resiliency. Coming back like that just speaks a lot of him,” said CHS coach Josh Fontenot.
The performance was vindication of sorts for Broussard, who had suffered six turnovers (five interceptions and one fumble) in back-to-back losses to Washington Marion and LaGrange prior to the Rayne game.
“We have a lot of confidence in him,” said Fontenot. “There was never any doubt that he could do that and he can do it quite often. We just finally had a game where we were able to put it all together and he delivered.”
Broussard’s longest touchdown throw of the night went for 53 yards to Ty’Von Griffen. He also threw a 20-yard scoring strike to Jerry Dregin on a fourth-and-seven situation late in the game
But Broussard’s most memorable strike was an 18-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Thomas for the eventual game-winner with just over a minute to go in regulation.
“Pate never gets rattled,” said Fonenot of his quarterback, who completed two big passes on the Gents’ game-winning drive. “It defies all the rules of football because he’s not supposed to be able to do that stuff yet. He’s very level headed and he’s everything that we want.
“He plays well beyond his age and at times, well beyond his size. He tends to do everything right and that’s where he excels.”
Broussard, as it turns out, wasn’t the only Gent to have a big game.
Bryston Domino added to the excitement with three kickoff returns for 160 yards, including a 96-yard return for a touchdown. Thomas had eight receptions for 165 yards and a touchdown and Chris Lewis picked up 105 yards rushing on 17 carries.
On the other side of the field, Trent Duhon had a spectacular performance for the Wolves. He gave the Gents’ defense fits all night by logging 265 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries.
Byron Mouton also had a big night for the Wolves with eight carries for 78 yards and a touchdown. He also had two receptions for 52 yards.
Elsewhere, other impressive performances were turned in by Church Point’s Deion Monroe, Iota’s Adam Ardoin and Notre Dame’s Brad Stoma.
Monroe helped lead to Bears to an impressive 31-8 victory over the Port Barre Red Devils by rushing 17 times for 113 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bears’ defense was also solid in limiting the Red Devils to just 48 yards on the ground and 161 total.
Ardoin was one of the lone bright spots for the Bulldogs in their 34-22 loss to Jennings. The junior tailback picked up 186 yards and a TD on 42 carries.
Stoma, the Pios’ junior quarterback, completed five of seven passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns despite only playing two quarters in a 59-0 rout of Abbeville.
Stoma connected with Boedy Borill twice for 49 yards and a touchdown and he hit John Michael Besse twice for 40 yards and a touchdown. Besse also rushed five times for 44 yards and a score.