Notre Dame shuts out Abbeville

ABBEVILLE – The past three weeks have been a challenge for Notre Dame, just not on the scoreboard. The Pios ran their district record to 3-0 and remained unbeaten at 8-0 with a 59-0 win at Abbeville Friday night.
“We knew Abbeville was young and that we would have an advantage in the game,” said Pios coach Lewis Cook. “I told our team this week that I wasn’t going to stand in front of them and give them a story. I just wanted them to come in and execute, give our starters some rest and get ready for next week.”
The Notre Dame offense scored the first eight times it touched the football and only twice all night had to start on the Pios side of midfield, once after a holding penalty on a punt return and the other because they chose not to field and return a punt, letting it roll past the 50 yard line. Abbeville was held to minus 36 yards of offense for the game, which according to Cook is harder to coach than a close game.
“It’s hard to keep your team interested in a game like this. I want the offense out there to work on things, but I also want the defense to get out there for some work. Abbeville is just in a bad situation right now and hopefully they can turn it around.”
With their first possession from the Wildcats 47, Brad Stoma scrambled for 12 yards and completed an 18 yard pass to Royce Zaunbrecher. John Michael Besse darted 17 yards for the first score at 8:39 of the opening quarter and Dustin Reiners added the extra point.
Nate Link and Conner Kirsch teamed to stop Wildcat RB Keyshawn Bessard for a six yard loss on third down to force a punt. Taking over in Abbeville territory, Stoma needed just three plays to get his team back on the scoreboard.
Scrambling out of the pocket, the junior QB curled around the left side of the defense and turned on the jets for a 35 yard TD run. Reiners kicked the PAT for a 14-0 lead.
The Pios scored a safety on the next series when a fourth down snap sailed over the Abbeville punter and out the end zone. Shea Zaunbrecher returned the ensuing kickoff to the Abbeville 33 and the Pios pounded it in for another score.
Lance Bertrand ran for 12 yards on first down and scored later on a one yard run to cap an all on the ground drive of 7 seven plays with 11 seconds left in the first quarter. Reiners added the PAT to make it 23-0.
“We didn’t really do anything new on offense,” added Cook. “We just tried to get a little work in on some things and make a couple of changes on how we run plays. We wanted to show some other looks and try to disguise some of the things we do a little bit.”
Abbeville came into the game pretty much its own worst enemy with numerous turnovers working against a defense that at times looked athletic and quick. Those times were few and far apart and the mistakes continued with another safety on a second high snap to the punter.
With good field position again after the free kick following the safety, Notre Dame marched 55 yards in six plays. John Michael Besse got things started with a 16 yard run and powered for seven yards three plays later.
Brad Stoma completed a 17 yard pass to Besse for a first down at the Wildcats 23. On the next play, Stoma faked and rolled left, flipping a pass out to Besse near the left sideline. J-Mike turned it inside for a 23 yard scoring play and Reiners added the PAT for a 32-0 lead with five minutes left in the half.
“It’s a triple option play, where Brad either gives it on the run inside, or he comes out and goes against the force defender,” explained Cook. “It’s a run option pass and if the force defender goes too wide, Brad takes it up on the run, If he takes Brad, then Stoma throws it out into open space for J-Mike.”
Even when Abbeville got a break, Notre Dame quickly turned the game back in its favor. A high snap forced Stoma to take a 15-yard loss at midfield. A 13-yard pass to Boedy Borill gave the Pios one more play before the half. The fourth down snap resulted in a highlight reel TD pass of 36 yards from Stoma to Borill on a deep slant in the end zone. The Reiners point after made the Pios halftime lead 39-0.
“I was hoping not to have to come back with the first unit in the second half,” said Cook. “I just wanted to get one more and then we return the second half kick and the rest of the time was really trying to find plays not to score, but make first downs to run the clock out and not add to it.”
Joe Faulk returned the second half kick 80 yards straight up the middle of the field. Picking up blockers near the Abbeville twenty, Faulk changed directions twice to avoid tacklers before being caught at the one and falling into the end zone.
Cook kept is basic the rest of the way, but it was still too much for the Wildcats who got their only first down on a pass play in the fourth quarter. It was short lived success as defensive plays by Grant Sonnier and Nick Satchell forced an Abbeville punt from the Wildcats two.
Ivy Paul Robichaux gained 10 yards on first down and James Kratzer ran the ball five of the seven plays on the 34 yard scoring drive. Kratzer went wide from the 15 yard line and beat everyone to the pylon for a 52-0 lead after Jarrett Doucet kicked the extra point.
It got even worse for Abbeville on the next series. QB Bryce Melancon mishandled a low snap in the shotgun, and in attempting to recover the loose ball, kicked it into the end zone. Logan Lagrange recovered for a touchdown and Doucet converted the PAT for the 59-0 final.
Notre Dame will host North Vermilion next Friday for Pios Homecoming. The regular season wraps up at Kaplan in what many thought would be the deciding game of the district race.
“I felt North Vermilion and Kaplan were the two best teams coming into district play,” concluded Cook. “They’ll be a step up from what we’ve seen and it will be good for us down the road to finish the regular season with these two games.”