Notre Dame rallies past tough Breaux Bridge

CROWLEY – The Notre Dame nightmare continued for Breaux Bridge Friday night at Gardiner Stadium. The Pios overcame another sluggish start and rallied from a 14-3 third quarter deficit to defeat the Tigers for the fifth straight season and extend their regular season win streak to fifteen games.
“Our defense kept them in check and kept them close,” said Pios coach Lewis Cook. “When we finally got going on offense, we were able to get the lead and then put them away with the fourth quarter drive.”
Collin Kirsch ran for 90 yards and scored on a two-yard run and a 15-yard pass in leading the Pios to a 26-14 win. The Notre Dame offense kept the football for eighteen minutes of the second half and the Pios defense allowed the Tigers just 12 offensive plays, one pass completion and two first downs.
“I went all summer long staring at the schedule and thinking we could be 0 and 3 to start,” Cook added with a smile. “There is nothing easy about these first three opponents and we have two wins. Next week, we’ll lay it on the line again and see if we can get three.”
It comes as no surprise that football games between the Pios and Tigers are usually determined by big plays and defense. For nearly three quarters, the advantage favored the opponents.
The opening Breaux Bridge drive was halted on a fourth down stop by Tyler Shelvin and Wynn Olinger at the Pios 29-yard line that also finished the night for Shelvin with a sprained ankle. Jordan Owens intercepted a pass on the next possession to halt another drive.
After several punt exchanges, Breaux Bridge mounted a seven play, 68-yard drive, aided by two pass interference calls against the Pios, who were penalized seven times for 76 yards in the first half. Needing ten yards on fourth down at the Pios 29-yard line, Tiger QB Cole Mouton completed a swing pass to freshman Dartravian Gregory who broke a tackle in the backfield and swept around the left side for a touchdown.
Notre Dame stormed back with just 1:07 left in the half as Bryant Thevis completed consecutive passes to Sam Hoffpauir for 15 and 14 yards. Thevis hit Zack Miller for 11 yards to the Breaux Bridge 19 and John William Lamm booted a 34-yard field goal as time ran out in the half.
“We were moving the ball and doing some good things, we just needed to eliminate the penalties,” Cook explained heading off the field at halftime. “We made some good throws to move the ball down the field in a short time and get the field goal right before the half and that was encouraging.”
Midway through the third quarter, Tigers QB Julian Leon completed his only pass of the second half. The quick slant over the middle to tight end Tyrick Davis turned into a 65-yard catch and run touchdown and a 14-3 Tigers lead.
“They are much more efficient on offense with coach (Terry) Martin and they have some big threats they were able to use against us,” added Cook. “We knew they would be coached up to play us and defensively they didn’t give us a whole bunch of big stuff. It’s hard to hold them down and we did give them a couple.”
The Pios are not shy of a few big plays and after Thomas Stevens rolled a punt to the Tigers eight-yard line, the ND defense kicked into gear with Thomas Stevens, who led the Pios with 12 tackles from his linebacker spot, dropping Malik LeBlanc for a loss on first down. On third down, Matt Rosinski knocked away a pass to force a punt. Senior linebacker Patrick Burleigh blocked the punt out of the end zone for a safety cutting the lead to 14-5.
“Coach Chris Stevens told me before the game we were going to try and block one,” Cook laughed. “They worked on it this week and felt they had a chance to do that and it was a big play to get that safety and get the ball back on their side of the fifty after their kickoff.”
Starting at the Tigers 41-yard line, Notre Dame cut further into the Breaux Bridge lead with a nine play march to the end zone. QB Thevis threw complete to Zack Miller for ten yards and Collin Kirsch got the running game in gear with six carries for 40 yards. Kirsch took it in from two yards and Lamm added the extra point to make it 14-12.
On the ensuing kickoff, Breaux Bridge returner Sa’Barian Alexander was wrapped up by Kirsch at the thirty-yard line and Waylon Bourgeois finished the tackle by knocking the ball loose. The fumble was recovered by Patrick Burleigh at the Tigers 25-yard line.
On third and ten at the Tigers 15, Thevis threw to Kirsch in the left flat. Breaux Bridge linebacker Tyler Wiltz appeared to have the play stopped on the sideline when Kirsch spun free and accelerated down the sideline for the go ahead score.
“Collin was the difference for us on offense tonight,” Cook noted. “We’ve been using him on defense and being able to get him in there and use him on offense was a big key for us.”
The Pios defense got off the field in three plays and Notre Dame sealed the win with a 53-yard scoring drive that drained 4:39 off the fourth quarter clock. Steven Zaunbrecher got things rolling with a 13 yard run and another five-yard gain for a first down at the Tigers 30-yard line.
On the tenth play of the drive, with third down at the Tigers three, QB Thevis faked a handoff and ran off the right side for a touchdown. Lamm added the PAT for the final margin of 26-14.
“I was most pleased that we didn’t let ourselves get down,” Cook said of his team. “There was a long time during that game when not a lot was going right. They let a guy get away and score on a fourth down play and then score on the long pass, but they hung in there and stayed the course.”
Aside from the two Breaux Bridge scoring passes, the Pios secondary allowed just 6 completions in 17 pass attempts. Cornerback Garret Cormier had five tackles and three pass breakups. Cornerback Jordan Owens intercepted a pass and had a couple of tackles.
Linebacker Thomas Stevens had a monster game, adding two sacks, four tackles for a loss and two QB hurries to his 12 tackles. Stevens also punted seven times for a 33-yard average and rolling kicks dead at the seven and eight-yard line. Defensive end Wynn Olinger logged six tackles and 5 QB hurries.
“This was a big game for us,” concluded Cook. “To win our first home game against a good team like that. We lost Tyler (Shelvin) early and we had guys like Alex Gardiner and Alec Brouillette do a good job stepping in with the other defensive linemen. There was a lot to be pleased about.”
Notre Dame goes on the road next week to renew the long rivalry with Teurlings on the turf in Lafayette.