Crowley holds off Eunice

CROWLEY – Josh Fontenot has seen some pretty impressive drives during his coaching career, but perhaps none as good or bigger than the one his Crowley Gents delivered in crunch time Friday night against the Eunice Bobcats.
Clinging to a one-point lead (21-20) and pinned at their own 11-yard line late in the District 4-4A showdown, the Gents put together a memorable 16-play, 89-yard drive that not only got them out of bad field position and ate up precious time, but also propelled them to a pivotal 28-20 victory.
Capped by a 31-yard touchdown pass from Pate Broussard to Ty’Von Griffin, the drive consumed 7 1/2 minutes and consisted of 14 run plays  and two pass plays. Along the way, the Gents converted on three third-down situations and two fourth-down plays, (including the TD).
“We weren’t good all night up front running the ball, but when we needed it the most, we stepped up and did it,” said Fontenot, whose team improved to 6-3 on the season and finished league play with a 4-2 record. “That just shows the resiliency and their heart and toughness.
“I mean, God, an 89-yard drive to take off that much time, I’m so proud of that.”
There were a number of big moments during the drive, including a 7-yard run by Chris Lewis on fourth-and-short and a 6-yard gain by Broussard on third-and-6.
But none was more impressive than the play that gave the Gents an 8-point cushion.
On fourth-and-4 from the Eunice 31-yard line, Broussard rolled out to the far sideline and found Griffin for what looked to be more than enough for the first down.
Griffin, however, side stepped a defender, raced back to the middle of the field and outran the Bobcats’ defense for a  31-yard touchdown catch and run that turned out to be the backbreaker the Gents needed.
“That play was actually called by coach Josh Andrus from the booth, a Eunice native,” said Fontenot of the Gents’ final touchdown play. “We came all the way down running the ball and then fourth-and-4, you’re kind of in that range where you don’t quite know (what to run). 
“Josh (Andrus) made that call. He said to run this and it made sense so we called it. Pate did a good job of getting it off and Ty’Von kind of finished it from there.”
As big as that drive was, it wouldn’t have been possible without a huge defensive stand by the Gents one series prior.
The Bobcats had taken over on a short field - at their own 43- and marched down to the Gents 13-yard line where they faced a fourth-and-three situation.
Crowley defenders flushed quarterback Alex Richard from the pocket and Alex Ashby came up with a big stop at the 11 to force the Cats to turn the ball over on downs.
In all, the Gents’ defense limited Eunice to just 207 total yards of offense and 11 first downs on the night.
“How awesome was our defense tonight?” said Fontenot. “I challenged the heck out of them tonight. We gave up 100 points in two weeks and we know we couldn’t win like that tonight. We gave up 20 points to a pretty darn good Eunice team and I’m extremely proud of that.
“We stopped them a few times when we really needed to. The defense held on for us tonight and helped us win this game.”
Another big play was turned in by Ja’Juan Delco.
Eunice’s Jake Sonnier scored on an 8-yard run midway through the third quarter to cut the lead to 21-20 and the Bobcats had a chance to tie it with the extra point .
But Delco burst through the line and blocked the kick to keep the Gents ahead.
“How big was that block by Delco? I mean, wow!” said Fontenot. “Once again, it was the resiliency of the kids. You just give up a touchdown drive and it’s easy to just sit there and kick a PAT. But, man, he just came flying through and blocked that thing.”
The game didn’t start off so well for the Gents, who gave up an early touchdown and trailed 6-0 just two minutes into the contest.
The Gents went three-and-out on the opening series of the game and a high snap to punter Andrew Simon gave the Bobcats the ball at the CHS 20. Three plays later, Chris Johnson scored from five yards out. The Bobcats’ two-point conversion pass fell incomplete.
The Gents then fumbled the ball away on their second offensive series, giving the Bobcats another scoring opportunity at  the CHS 29.
“We can’t make anything easy,” said Fontenot. “It’s like a circus act. We put on a little show  for a little while, but then we catch our head and then we come back.”
Eunice was unable to capitalize on the second mistake, instead turning the ball over when Jacob Doucet came up with a big interception and returned it to the CHS 39.
Two plays later, Lewis hit a seam and raced 64 yards for the Gents’ first touchdown of the night. Simon’s extra point split the uprights to give Crowley a 7-6 advantage with 7:15 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Gents scored again on their next series when Broussard ran a keeper around the edge from two yards out following a 73-yard pass play to Terrell Thomas. Simon was true on the PAT to give Crowley a 14-6 lead with 2:49 left in the first quarter.
“We got a big run from Chris and then a big pass to Terrell that really kind of got our feet back underneath us,” said Fontenot.
Eunice answered midway through the second quarter when Darious Richard hit paydirt from three yards out. Alex Richard then hit Johnson with a pass to complete the two-point conversion and tie the game at 14-14 with 5:43 remaining in the half.
The Gents, however, weren’t finished.
They took over for their final possession of the half at their own 34-yard line with 1:02 to go before the break. Two big pass plays to Lewis and Jerry Dregin got them down to the  4-yard line, setting up a shuttle pass to Griffin for a touchdown. Simon added the PAT with six seconds to go to give the Gents a 21-14 advantage heading into the second half.
Offensively, the Gents racked up 332 yards of total offense and they moved the chains 14 times.
Lewis led the ground attack with 136 yards and one touchdown on 23 carries while Griffin had 40 yards on 13 carries.
Broussard was once again masterful through the air, completing eight of 16 pass attempts for 190 yards and two touchdowns. He connected with Thomas once for 73 yards, Dregin twice for 47 and Griffin had two receptions for 35 yards and two touchdowns. Lewis also had two receptions for 30 yards and Jacq’Co Price had one for five.
Eunice was led by Darius Richard and Jake Sonnier with 59 and 51 yards rushing. Alex Richard added another 48 yards on the ground and Johnson had 19.
Alex Richard also completed four of 13 pass attempts for 32 yards. He hit Jerwaski Thomas twice for 17 yards while Andrew Lomas and Travis Godfrey each had one catch for 10 and five yards, respectively.
The Gents close out the regular season on Friday when they play host to Madison while Eunice travels to Beau Chene.