Notre Dame dominates Erath

ERATH – A year later, with a new coach, a revised system, a healthy standout runningback and a three game win streak, Erath eerily suffered a nearly identical fate. Notre Dame rolled into Bobcat Stadium Friday night and allowed just three rushing yards and only one trip past midfield all night in a 41-0 win to go 2-0 in district play.
“Our defense kept the pressure on them all night and to not let their runningback get out of there was big,” Coach Lewis Cook said after the game. “We talked about it last week and they accepted the challenge. It’s kind of fun to be up against a good back and see if you can get a lot of guys around the ball and slow him down. They really did a nice job.”
It didn’t hurt that the Pios put two scores on the board in the first minute of play. Hayden Bourgeois returned the opening kickoff 87 yards in 13 seconds for the first touchdown.
“We try to bunch everybody up and tell him you just have to pipe it in there and hope you time it when the crease is there,” added Cook. “Sure enough, he just came right out of there and made one guy miss him and then it was a foot race.”
On the first Erath snap, quarterback Ben LeBlanc had the ball stripped by Conner Kirsch and Tyler Binder recovered at the Bobcats 24 yard line. Two plays later, Damon Comeaux slashed through the middle for an 8 yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 at 11:00 of the first quarter.
As easy as getting the lead may have looked, extending it was a real chore. The Pios did little with the next two possessions and seemed a little out of synch on execution.
“We did spread out a couple of times and there were a couple of things they were doing with their coverage that gave us some difficulty,” noted Cook. “We dropped one pass and had one go through our hands on third down. We just couldn’t make a play to stay on the field and build momentum that you want in a drive. You have to give Erath credit for really playing hard up front. They were doing some things inside to try and give us some problems.”
Pios punter Dustin Reiners kept Erath pinned deep by rolling kicks dead at the 11 and 15 yard lines. Bobcats quarterback Ben LeBlanc drove his team out of trouble both times with third down completions of 17 yards to Elijah Mitchell and 14 yards to Ross Granger.
“Our defense put a lot of pressure on him, but I thought he handled himself fairly well,” Cook said of LeBlanc’s play against the Pios defense. “He made some big throws to get them some first downs but our defensive front was pretty relentless.”
Notre Dame got back on track with a four and a half minute drive covering 77 yards in 12 plays. A 13 yard pass from Brad Stoma to Hunter Miller set up a 12 yard TD run from Damon Comeaux with 1:37 to go in the half. Jacque Thibodeaux intercepted a LeBlanc pass to end the first half with the Pios ahead, 21-0.
A good indicator that your running game is in trouble would be 17 yards on 14 carries. That was the halftime totals for Erath. For the game, the Pios defensive front of Logan LaGrange, Trey Vautrot, Conner Kirsch and Nate Link combined for 22 tackles, 8 sacks and 10 tackles for a loss.
That meant it didn’t get any better after intermission for the Bobcats. Sophomore Elijah Mitchell is used to running for over a hundred yards in a game. He netted 26 yards on 13 carries with a long run of 11 yards against the Pios.
After forcing a punt on the first Erath series of the second half, the Pios marched 69 yards in 8 plays and 2:04 on the clock. Damon Comeaux finished his night by logging 4 carries for 61 yards on the drive and for the game gained 110 yards on 11 carries. Comeaux got his third rushing touchdown of the night on a 38 yard burst.
“We finally got a nice series just before the half and put that one in the end zone,” smiled Cook.” We went in and looked at some things to adjust in the second half and when Damon broke that run it was a counter sweep against what they were doing in the first half.”
Erath made its first and only trip into Pios territory on the next series. QB LeBlanc converted a fourth down from the 49 to cross midfield with a 4 yard QB sneak. An 11 yard completion to Ross Granger got Erath to the Pios 36.
Sacks by Nate Link, Trey Vautrot and Logan LaGrange set up fourth and nine at the Pios 35. Erath RB Mitchell gained just four yards and the Pios took over at the 31.
On the first play, Joe Faulk took it 69 yards for a score. Reiners added the point after for a 35-0 lead.
“We had talked on the sideline that they were really flying to take away the stretch play, so we said let’s get something that takes it back inside,” explained Cook. “So, Joe (Faulk) brought it outside and when he put his foot in the ground and cut it back he ran through some guys, got a couple of good blocks down the field and got behind them. He’s a lot faster than folks think.”
The long TD run got Faulk to 91 yards on 7 carries for the game. Notre Dame netted 290 yards on 42 rushing plays.
On the next Erath series, Conner Kirsch hurried QB LeBlanc on a third down pass down the right hash marks. The pressure forced an overthrow and Hayden Bourgeois intercepted at the Bobcats 34. Bourgeois took it back the distance to make it 41-0.
Erath had only one three and out series followed by a first down lost fumble in the fourth quarter as Pios reserves closed the game with nine minutes of possession. The last 27 seconds ran off after an unfortunate injury to Pio lineman Bryce Credeur on the final play.
“It was actually a couple of our own players getting tangled up,” summed up Cook. “It’s unfortunate, we just wanted to get up off the ground and get out. It looks like maybe a small bone break, but hopefully he will be OK.”
Notre Dame returns home next Friday to host Abbeville on senior night.
The Wildcats dropped a 14-10 decision to North Vermilion Friday and are still looking for their first win of the season.
Notre Dame improved to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in District 6-3A play.