Gents air it out in victory over Westlake

CROWLEY – It’s no secret that the Crowley Gents have an arsenal full of offensive weapons this fall.
Friday night, they used a variety of those weapons in avenging an embarrassing 2014 loss to the Westlake Rams.
The Gents (2-0) struck through the air and on the ground in a 34-3 victory.
“We were sharp, sharp, sharp tonight,” said CHS coach Josh Fontenot of his team’s performance. “Everybody felt good tonight. We were light on our feet and it just felt really good.”
The No. 6-ranked Gents’ performance was so dominant that Fontenot began sending in reserves with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter and left them in the remainder of the game.
Of all the individual performances by the Gents, one stood out.
CHS quarterback Pate Broussard was at his best in the first home appearance of the season, picking the Westlake secondary apart. He completed 10 of 13 pass attempts for 211 yards and two touchdowns.
“(Yeah) Pate was pretty sharp tonight,” said Fontenot in the understatement of the night. “He was on and that’s what we are used to.  We’re spoiled because we’re used to him (Broussard) playing like that and those receivers making catches.”
Pate’s main target was Terrell Thomas. Broussard hit the senior wide receiver five times for 81 yards and two touchdowns. The touchdown catches were from 10 and 20 yards, respectively.
“Terrell is one of our best football players, he just knows how to play he game,” said Fontenot. “You can put him in the slot, you can put him outside, you can put him at safety or corner...he knows how to play football.”
One of Thomas’ most impressive catches was on a 10-yard out route for a touchdown when he caught the pass in front of a defender, stepped forward instead of turning it up immediately and shook the Westlake cornerback to hit paydirt.
“He (Thomas) knows how defenses flow, he knows we’re running an out route and he plants his foot and gets up field,” said Fontenot. “I didn’t  teach him that; he did that on his own and that comes with time and experience and knowing how to play football.”
Thomas wasn’t the only receiver to have success. Broussard connected with Xavier Johnson once on a 78-yard strike on second down-and-23 to set up the Gents’ first score of the game early in the first quarter.
Jacq’Co Price also hauled in three passes for 43 yards, all with under three minutes to go in the first half to set up another CHS score. Rapheus Joseph had two receptions from backup quarterback Paul Dugas for 42 yards and Mikal Hebert had one catch for 11 yards.
“With us, it’s always week to week. We don’t really target a guy,” said Fontenot. “Tonight, Terrell kind of got hot and then we go two-minute (drill) and I think we threw Jacq’Co every pass. And we only threw to Xavier once, but it was a big play and he looked great on it.”
The Gents’ aerial assault helped offset a subpar ground attack that produced just 137 yards.
Ty’Von Griffin, who rushed for over 200 yards a week ago, was held to just 68 yards on 17 carries. He did, however, score three touchdowns on the evening. His first was a 7-yard run in the first quarter, the second a 33-yard bolt.
The 33-yard scamper was the most impressive. He broke a few tackles and then stiff armed a defender at the 6-yard line before scoring.
“Westlake had some big guys in there and when we’re not in two-back situations, it’s hard for us to be a power team; so we have to stay outside,” said Fontenot. “But he got going in the second half. That’s kind of the plan: let’s make them run side to side and get them tired and now, okay, tackle him in the third and fourth quarter when you’re tired.”
Griffin also had a burst  on the Gents’ first offensive series of the game when he broke loose for what looked to be a 75-yard touchdown run. But a holding call negated the score.
Not to be outdone, the Gents’ defense was spectacular once again as well.
The defensive unit limited the Rams to just 167 yards of total offense and eight first downs on the night.
“It’s so much easier to call plays (offensively) when our defense plays like that,” said Fontenot. “It’s just very comfortable. You can throw on first down, you can mix it up and do some things that we like to do and not have any worries because we know we are going to get some stops and we got them all night.”
That defense stood tall early and often especially after the Rams executed an onside kick on the opening kickoff and got the ball at the Gents’ 48-yard line. After a pair of short runs, Logan Cambell and John Marceaux were in on a sack for minus 10 yards to force a punt.
The Gents wasted little time in taking advantage of their opportunity. Johnson’s 76-yard reception on third-and-long was followed by four runs by Griffin, the last a 1-yard touchdown.
Westlake had its longest drive of the night on its second series when the Rams marched 59 yards. But a big third-down stop at the Gents’ 9-yard line forced the Rams to kick a 26-yard field goal.
The Gents’ second touchdown of the game was set up by a 40-yard kickoff return by Hebert. From there, Griffin picked up 13 yards on two runs before Broussard hit Thomas for a 10-yard scoring strike.
Broussard and Thomas hooked up once again on the Gents’ next series, this time for a 20-yard touchdown strike that gave the Gents a 20-3 advantage after the PAT was blocked with 3:06 remaining in the half.
The Gents weren’t done just yet, however.
After a quick three-and-out to force a punt, the Gents took over at mid field with 2:01 remaining in the half. From there, Broussard hooked up with Price three times before Griffin punched it in from seven yards out.
Griffin added the final score of the game midway through the third quarter on a 33-yard run.
Crowley’s reserves took the field with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter and mounted a drive that got all the way down to the WHS 2-yard line on runs by Jarvis Harmon, Donald Francis and Dugar and two big receptions by Rapheus Joseph
But on fourth-and-goal, Meliek Pappion intercepted a pass in the end zone to thwart the scoring opportunity.
Despite a big return to get the Rams down to the Gents’ 37 yard line, the Gents were able to force another punt and Crowley’s offense was able to run out the final three minutes of the contest.
The Gents will likely face their stiffest challenge of the young season next week when they travel to Cecilia to take on the Bulldogs at 7 p.m.