Gents make short work of Gators

PRAIRIE BASSE – With their ground game limited for the second straight week due to injuries, the Crowley Gents were forced  to air  things out again Friday in their District  4-4A opener against the Beau Chene Gators.
And once again, quarterback Pate Broussard and his receiving corps were up to the challenge.
Broussard hit five different receivers  and  the Gents scored early and often en route to a dominating 38-6 victory over the Gators in a contest that was played with a running clock the entire fourth quarter.
“Once again, we had to rely on Pate and the receivers and I thought we looked very sharp tonight,” said CHS coach Josh Fontenot after the victory that sent his team to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in league play.
Broussard did most of the damage early in the contest, racking up 161 yards through the air in the first quarter alone. Overall, he completed 18 of  26 pass attempts for 262 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once.
“We looked really sharp, I think sharper than we looked against Northwest (a week earlier) which is good,” said Fontenot of his team’s aerial  assault. “We threw a pick, but he (Broussard) knows he’s got to eat that or throw that away. He understands that, but those are the things you learn from and you move on.”
Broussard was on target most of the night, spreading the wealth out evenly. Jacq’Co Price and Terrell Thomas each had six receptions while John Marceaux hauled in four passes.
Marceaux led the Gents with 91 receiving yards while Price had 84 and Thomas had 70.
“They (receivers) knew that it was on them and that they couldn’t wait on someone else to do it,” said Fontenot. “They went  in there with a lot of confidence and they just have to continue that.
“Those three guys are good. I think they are good, we all think they are good. We have a lot confidence in them and Pate has a lot of confidence in them; so we have to continue to play with that high level of confidence. We kind of have to get our swagger back and we’re starting to get there.”
Ty’Von Griffen also gave the Gents a boost, returning to the lineup after missing last week’s contest with a knee injury. He played a limited role on the night but still finished as the team’s leading rusher (50 yards) despite having just eight carries. The junior tailback also had one reception for 15 yards.
“We didn’t want to overdo it with him,” said Fontenot.
Despite not being at 100 percent, Griffin showed signs of getting back to full form a few times. He broke off a 26-yard run in the first quarter to give the Gents a first-and-goal and he hauled in a 15-yard screen pass early in the third quarter before bulldozing his way into the end zone from five yards out.
That was a welcomed relief to Fontenot.
“It was more of a head thing with Griff tonight,” said Fontenot. “He’s fine with his knee; it’s a little sore, but we need him to play tonight to get it out of his head that he is hurt.
“And when he made some of those cuts, that more than anything was good. I don’t care about the yards, but when I saw him plant and cut, both ways, I felt a little bit better about it and he did, too.”
As impressive as the Gents’ offense was, their defense was just as good.
The Gents limited the Gators to just 25 yards in the first half and had the Gators down to just 12 yards late in the third quarter before eventually giving up 43 yards on the night and five first downs.
“Our defense just continues to play great,” said Fontenot. “We haven’t taken any steps back and that’s the most important thing. The thing that I was happy with is that we didn’t give up the big play. That’s been our Achilles heel when we have teams backed up and we give up a big one.”
One of the Gents’ most impressive series on defense was in the second quarter when Broussard was intercepted at the CHS 45.
With the Gators on their side of the field, Matthew Doty recorded a sack for a 7-yard loss. After an incompletion, Alex Domingue got in the backfield and recorded a sack for a 10-yard loss that forced  a punt on fourth-and long.
Other defensive highlights included a blocked extra point attempt by Thomas and a fumble recoveries by Ed Yokum and Quanterral Robinson.
“Everybody took a turn tonight,” said Fontenot. “They all played great and you didn’t see many missed assignments. You didn’t see many corrections being made by our defensive staff about guys who weren’t in the right spot. Sometimes you are going to get beat, but let’s be in the right spots and make them beat us, not beat ourselves.”
Offensively, the Gents got things going on their opening possession when Blayne Sonnier capped a five-play, 80-yard drive with a 1yard touchdown run.
On that series, Broussard hooked up with Marceaux on a 55-yard pass and he hit Thomas on a 24-yard strike.
The Gents added to their lead two possessions later when they forced a fumble and took over at the Beau Chene 24-yard line. On the first play, Price took a shuttle pass from Broussard and took it the distance for a 14-0 advantage.
Thomas got in on the action in the third quarter when he caught a 7-yard touchdown pass before Andrew Simon drilled a 28-yard field goal to give the Gents a 24-0 cushion heading into the half.
A fumble on the Gators’ opening possession of the second half gave the Gents the ball back at the BC 20-yard line. Griffin then hauled in a 15-yard pass on the first play and scored on the next on a 5-yard run.
The Gents’ final touchdown of the night was turned in by Jardell Delco on a 1-yard run midway through the third quarter.
Fontenot elected to empty the bench on the Gents’ following offensive possession and they turned the ball over with a fumble on the first play. That led the Gators lone score of the night, a 13-yard touchdown run by Savion Broussard.
The youngsters made up for the miscue on their ensuing series when they milked the clock on runs by P.J. Myles, Donald Francis and Paul Dugar.
“We had some big runs in there, we completed a pass, I mean those guys like getting in there,” said Fontenot of his reserves. “It’s fun when you can give those guys, who practice for you all week, an opportunity to play. And they did well, they took advantage of it. They take that seriously and so do I.”
For Fontenot, there wasn’t much to complain about on the night.
“We’re 3-1 and we are moving forward with health and being clean,” said Fontenot. “We did what we needed to do tonight. Beau Chene, hats off to them, but they are a young and inexperienced team and we needed to win like we did tonight for us to feel good about moving forward. And we did.”