Gents rally past Washington Marion

LAKE CHARLES – It wasn’t one of the Crowley Gents’ best performances of the season.
In fact, it was far from it.
But in the end, it was just enough.
The Gents, playing their first of two Lake Charles powers in as many weeks, survived a four-turnover night, overcame a  5-point halftime deficit and rallied in the fourth quarter to spoil Washington-Marion’s Homecoming, 22-21.
“It was ugly,” CHS coach Josh Fontenot admitted afterward. “I think we probably played terrible in a lot of places....missed assignments, missed tackles, missed balls, fumbles.  We probably played a terrible game.”
That said, Fontenot was nonetheless pleased with his team’s resilience.
“I am as proud as I can be of this group,” he continued. “We won a game against a significant opponent, which was the big hump for us. Last year we won all the games that we were supposed to win; this year we beat a team that is a good team and has been playing well and has some good athletes, on the road when we played bad.
“There’s so many things to be proud of as a team. Now we’ll go back and fix all the bad stuff/ But as a team, to come up with a victory in a game like this, it may be a step for us in getting over that big hump of being able to beat significant opponents when things aren’t going our way.”
Not going their way, indeed.
The Gents fumbled twice and threw two interceptions, turning their high-octane offense into a sputtering machine.
The Indians, on the other hand, had just one turnover on the night, but it was costly.
Trailing 21-15 with just under 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Gent Ed Yokum made a hit on the sideline, jarring the ball loose from a Washington Marion receiver which he recovered  at the CHS 37.
The turnover was just the spark that the Gents needed.
From there, it took the Gents just six plays, all runs by Ty’Von Griffin, to hit paydirt.
The junior tailback broke loose on the very first play and rambled 37 yards down to the WM 26-yard line. He picked up 13 yards on the next play before being hit for no gain on his third carry of the series. A 2-yard pickup followed before a facemask pushed the Gents back to the 10-yard line on third down.
So what did Fontenot elect to do?
He fed Griffin more.
Griffin bullied his way down to the 1 for a first down on the next play and he then scored from there to give the Gents the lead for good at 22-21.
“When we got that turnover, you just saw the spark,” said Fontenot. “We took advantage of an opportunity that our defense gave us and, on the sideline, you could just feel it. Griff and the offensive line just took over.
Griffin, who is just getting over a knee injury, finished the night with 29 carries for 151 yards and two touchdowns. But his final six carries of the night were the most impressive.
“I think in his head, his knee still hurts; so I made sure he took his knee brace off at halftime,” said Fontenot. “After that, he came out and ran violent and he wanted the end zone. That’s what we need from him and he saw that and he went in there and got it.”
The Indians, however, still had a chance and plenty of time on the clock when they took over at their own 28 with just under four minutes to go.
Jacobi Taylor moved the chains for the Indians’ on their first play with a 13-yard scamper and he later dug his squad out of an 13-yard hole with an 18-yard run.
The Indians then crossed midfield and got to the CHS 43 but the Gents defense forced three straight incompletions from there and forced Washington Marion to turn the ball over on downs with 51 seconds remaining.
“That was a big stop for our defense,” said Fontenot. “Overall, they came with a lot of stops. And they came up with stops when the offense put them in some pretty bad situations; they gave up some big ones but when we were in a bind, they tightened up and played great.”
Those big ones Fontenot  referred to were a pair of runs by Taylor, a sophomore, who had two touchdowns on the night.
He broke free for a 76-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and then scored from 73 yards out in the third.
Taylor finished the night with 226 yards on 19 carries.
“You take those two big runs away and it’s not even close,” said Fontenot. “But you know, we say that too much. Take those two big plays away, take those three big plays away...we’ve got to quit it, we’ve got to stop it because if you do take them away then it’s 22-7 and you’re fine and you don’t panic.”
There was reason to panic early when WM quarterback Tyler Pete capped a 10-play, 88-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Indians a 7-0 advantage with 3:33 left in the first quarter.
The Gents answered right back on their ensuing possession when CHS quarterback Pate Broussard rushed in from six yards out. Andrew Simon’s extra point attempt sailed wide, leaving the Indians with a 7-6 advantage with 10:44 remaining in the half.
Taylor added to the Indian’s lead one play later when he took a handoff from Pete, hit the sideline and outran the Gents secondary en route to a 76-yard touchdown run.
The Gents cut the lead to 14-9 on a 25-yard field goal by Simon just before the half and Jardell Delco’s eight-yard burst with 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter gave the Gents a 15-14 lead following a missed two-point conversion.
That lead didn’t last long, however.
Taylor struck again on the Indians’ very first play of their next possession, breaking free for a 73-yard touchdown run for the Indians’ final score.
The Gents’ took the lead for good with 7:11 remaining in the game on Griffin’s one-yard run.
Overall, the Gents racked up 11 first downs and 305 total yards of offense.
Delco followed Griffin with 14 yards on four carries while Broussard picked up 12 yards and Jacq’Co Price had 11.
Broussard added 112 yards through the air by completing eight of 18 pass attempts.
Price was the Gents’ leading receiver with six catches for 81 yards while John Marceaux had one reception for 27 yards. Terrell Thomas also had one catch for four yards.
The Gents’ defense held the Indians to 283 total yards with all but 12 of them coming on the ground.
Taylor’s 226 yards led all rushers on the night while Robert Owens picked up 66 yards on seven carries. Quajea Boutte had two carries for six yards while Pete was hit for minus 27 yards on eight carries.
The Gents return to action on Thursday when they play host to LaGrange.