Griffin helps lead Gents past Eunice

CROWLEY – He wasn’t wearing a cape and there was no red S on his chest.
But Crowley High’s Ty’Von Griffin looked every bit like Superman Friday evening in the Gents’ district showdown against Eunice at Gardiner Memorial Stadium.
In a game played on chilly Halloween night, Griffin, the Gents’ junior outstanding running back, provided both tricks and treats, busting loose for 304 yards and six touchdowns to help lead the Gents to a 41-21 victory over the visiting Bobcats.
The memorable performance - his second in as many weeks - came seven days after he rushed for 288 and scored five touchdowns in a 33-21 victory over Rayne and it boosted his season rushing total to 1,421 yards.
“Ty’von is a good football player, he really is,” said CHS coach Josh Fontenot, whose team improved to 7-2 on the season and finished up district play with a 5-1 record. “He’s starting to feel confident and he’s running like he’s supposed to. He’s a strong runner; he’s is not going to juke and jive you out in the open field and we don’t want him to do that.
“Like we tell him, if you run hard from the beginning, they are going to get tired of hitting you and it works for him.”
Griffin was the only Gent to score a touchdown against the Bobcats and his rushing total made up the majority of the 378 yards total offense of the Gents.
But quarterback Pate Broussard also had a big contribution, converting key third-down plays to keep drives alive.
“With a lot of our running game, it’s read stuff and Pate pulls it every now and then,” said Fontenot of Broussard, who called his own number eight times for 17 yards. “We tell him to get his yards and get out of bounds. We don’t want  him trying to juke safeties and get killed from the backside, and typical Pate, he’s going to do exactly what we tell him to do and read it exactly right.”
Broussard, Acadia Parish’s leading passer, didn’t pass much, simply because he didn’t have to. He did, however, complete five passes, all to Jacq’Co Price, for 40 yards.
Those few connections were enough to make Eunice have to respect the passing game and it opened up more opportunities for Griffin.
“We didn’t throw the ball great tonight and we didn’t throw it a lot either, but we were able to throw it enough to open it up a little bit,” said Fontenot.
“We didn’t throw a bunch tonight but they know they have got to defend it. It was finding a little rhythm with us being spread out and just give him (Griffin) the ball.”
Griffin got going early on when the Gents took over at the EHS 36 following a short punt by the Bobcats with 7:06 to go in the first quater. After a short gainer for two yards and a 13-yard quarterback keeper, the junior tailback burst through the line for a 7-yard pickup, He carried three more times, scoring on the last from two yards out.
The Gents added to their lead in the second quarter when Griffin capped an eight-play, 62-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. He had seven carries during that series.
The Bobcats responded, however, and scored on their ensuing possession, thanks in part to a pair of CHS penalties.
Eunice started their drive at their own 20 and moved into CHS territory on a big pass to Terryl Poullard and an unsportsman like conduct penalty on third down and long.
The Gents appeared to have the Bobcats stopped minutes later,  but on fourth -and -15, the Gents were hit with a pass interference penalty that kept the drive alive. Three plays later, EHS quarterback Alex Richard ran a keeper around the edge for a 9-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 14-7.
“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little on that drive,” said Fontenot. “Both penalties were legit, but once again, we gave them something and didn’t make them earn it. We have to quit doing that and giving teams chances.”
The second half started out well for the Gents when the Bobcats muffed a punt and CHS’ Quentron Gallow recovered the ball at the Eunice 16-yard line.
Griffin popped a 12-yard run on the first play and scored from four yards out on the next to push the lead to 21-7.
Eunice would answer yet again, though.
Two plays into the Bobcats ensuing possession, Richard hit Godfrey streaking across the middle for a 71-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 21-14.
The Gents had an explosive answer of their own one play later.
The Gents took over at their own 24 after the kickoff and on the first play, Griffin hit a hole and outran defenders for a 76-yard touchdown.
Eunice wouldn’t go away though.
After back-to-back runs for losses from their own 33, Richard hit Travis Godfrey on a 30-yard completion for a first down. Darrin Serie then broke off a 36-yard run and Richard followed up with a 1-yard touchdown run to get the Bobcats within a score at 27-21.
“Eunice is a good team and we knew that they would come out and fight,” said Fontenot. “In hindsight, it was  good to handle some adversity. You know, you get punched in the mouth and you come right back.”
That they did.
And it took just six plays.
Starting from their own 32, Griffin picked up six yards on two carries before Broussard hit Price on a 9-yard. Two more run plays got the Gents into Bobcat territory before Griffin bulldozed his way through the defense for a 32-yard touchdown.
Griffin scored his sixth and final touchdown midway through the fourth quarter on a 2-yard run.
Overall, the Gents racked up 378 total yards and 17 first downs.
Defensively, the Gents limited Eunice to 291 yards  and eight first downs.
“We played well on defense,” said Fontenot. “Wing-T teams are hard for us, they are. We have trouble with them, but we held these guys to three scores.”
One thing Fontenot wasn’t pleased with was the fact that his squad turned the ball over three times on the night. Broussard was intercepted twice and Griffin had a fumble in the second half.
None of the turnovers resulted in points but it is mistakes that the Gents can’t afford heading into the playoffs.
“We just have got to learn to put games away,” said Fontenot. “I don’t think the game should have been that close. When we get in the playoffs, if we want to make a run, we can’t turn the ball over like that.”