Eunice rallies past Crowley

CROWLEY – It all came down to execution Friday night and when the Gents needed it the most, they failed to come through.
The Gents turned the ball over on downs three times in the second half, twice inside the red zone, and a bad snap on a punt at their own 1-yard line resulted in the eventual winning touchdown as Eunice slipped away from Gardiner Memorial Stadium with a 27-22 victory.
“Like I just told the kids, Eunice High made plays to win the game and Crowley High did not,” said CHS coach Josh Fontenot, whose team fell to 1-3 on the season with the Homecoming loss. “You can analyze it, you can look at it, you can blame people. But, Eunice High made the plays and we didn’t when we needed to.”
The Gents had a handful of opportunities that could have been game changers, including one in the first half when they turned the ball over on downs just outside of the red zone right before the intermission with a 22-14 lead.
The Gents then drove the field again to start the third quarter, but a false start and a holding penalty set them back before an incompletion on fourth down turned the ball over on downs at the Eunice 18-yard line.
The Gents’ second offensive series of the second half also resulted in a turnover on downs, this time at the EHS 10-yard line after a dropped pass on fourth down.
“When we needed to make plays, we’d miss a block; we had a bad snap; we dropped touchdown passes and had selfish penalties. We beat ourselves, once again,” said Fontenot. “Those things cost us the game. Until we grow up, nothing is going to change.
“Now, did we play with effort and all that good and rah-rah stuff? Absolutely. We played hard and tried very well and there were a lot of bright spots out there. But bottom line is we lost because we didn’t make plays and we were selfish.”
The Gents actually outgained Eunice 325-296 in total offense and had 18 first downs to the Bobcats’ 14.
But it was the Gents’ inability to finish drives that cost them.
After they turned the ball over on downs to start the third quarter, Eunice made them pay on just four plays. Avery Lee had two short gains before Trevin Ceasar broke loose for a 72-yard run down to the CHS 1-yard line. Ceasar scored on the next play to cut the Gents’ lead to 22-21.
In the fourth quarter, the Gents took over at their own 9-yard line after a punt, but ended up facing a fourth-and-long situation from the 11. They got in an offensive set in which they were going to punt out of, but a bad snap forced Marquis Garrett to fall on the ball at the 1, where Eunice took over.
On the very next play, quarterback Jaden Brasseaux punched it in and after a failed 2-point conversion attempt, the Bobcats led 27-22.
“I know I’m going to catch heat for that, but that was a punt,” said Fontenot, who lost both his starting punter and his backup last week to injuries in the Cecilia game. “We are out of punters so we have to punt out of an offensive formation. We just got a bad snap and we didn’t handle it. Once again, we didn’t make a simple play when it needed to be made.”
The Gents had one last shot after taking over at their own 35-yard line, but after a big run from Keith Wilson to cross midfield, the Gents were hit for two losses and had two incompletions, turning the ball over on downs once again.
The second half collapse was the total opposite of what took place in the first two quarters.
Eunice took the opening kickoff and mounted an eight-play, 63-yard drive that was capped by Georrein Dupre’s 9-yard touchdown scamper.
The Gents, however, answered right back with an impressive drive of their own.
Starting at their own 44, Wilson and Chris Lewis took turns breaking off big runs before Lewis hauled in a 14-yard pass from Garrett at the 3-yard line. Wilson punched it in from there one play later and then added the two-point conversion run to give Crowley an 8-7 advantage.
Eunice responded almost immediately.
Two runs by Lee netted 11 yards before Brasseaux connected with Dashawn Vigers on a 31-yard scoring strike.
Wilson added two more touchdowns for the Gents in the first half from two and one yard out, respectively.
Garrett, a freshman starting his first game at quarterback, was instrumental in all three of Crowley’s first-half scoring drives.
Garrett completed 11 of 15 passes in the first half for 120 yards and finished the night 17-for-26 for 163 yards. His lone mistake was an interception on the first play of Crowley’s first series when he threw a go-route to Xavier Johnson that was intercepted.
“Marquis played a phenomenal game,” said Fontenot. “(On) that interception, he threw a great ball; it was just intercepted. We had decided that we were going to take a shot on the first play and Eunice just stepped up and made a great play.”
Wilson also had another big game. The junior tailback racked up 109 yards and scored three times on 26 carries while Jai’Rece Lewis picked up 35 yards on three carries. Chris Lewis pitched in 28 yards on three carries runing the wildcat.
Xavier Johnson was the Gents’ leading receiver with eight receptions for 72 yards. Chris Lewis added four catches for 63 yards and Donald Francis had two catches for 16 yards. Jai’Rece Lewis and Rapheus Joseph each finished with one reception for six yards.
Lee Led the Bobcats with 22 carries for 93 yards while Ceasar had six touches for 78 and a touchdown.