Cecilia outlasts Gents in absolute slugfest

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If the field conditions were decent, Crowley High coach Jeptha Wall pretty much figured his Gents’ home contest against Cecilia Friday evening could possibly turn into a shootout.
They were and it was.
The Bulldogs (1-2) racked up 457 total yards and struck for five touchdowns through the air to upend the homestanding Gents, 48-34, at Gardiner Memorial Stadium.
“We pretty much knew coming in that this was going to be a barn burner,” said Wall, whose team fell to 2-1 heading into Thursday’s district opener at home against Eunice. “They (Cecilia) match up with us athlete-wise and they did a great job.”
The two squads went back and forth for the better part of three quarters in a game that was tied three times.
The Gents had a chance to tie it a fourth time early in the fourth quarter after a 64-yard touchdown toss from quarterback Marquis Garrett to Obadiah Butler.
But they elected to go for the two-point conversion and Garrett’s pass was deflected at the line, leaving the Bulldogs with a 35-34 advantage with just under 11 minutes remaining in the game.
“The protection was bad both times (on the previous extra point kicks) so we felt if we got a chance to gain a little momentum, we were going to take it,” said Wall of the decision to go for two. “We waited until the fourth quarter and took a shot at it and we just didn’t get it done.”
Cecilia gambled on its ensuing possession facing a fourth-down-and 11 from the Gents’ 21 yard line. Quarterback Tyler Abshire hit Wallace Davis for a touchdown to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 41-34 with just over eight minutes remaining.
The Gents had to punt on their next possession and the Bulldogs put the nail in the coffin with a 26-yard touchdown run by J.P. Moral.
During that drive, the Bulldogs converted yet another fourth down with a screen pass to Williams that went for 14 yards.
“We were able to answer for most of the game, but we just died out there in the fourth quarter. But I’m not making excuses, they were better than us tonight,” said Wall.
Where the Bulldogs did most of their damage was through the air.
Abshire lit the Gents up for 246 passing yards and connected with Lance Williams nine times for 170 yards and three touchdowns.
“The screens and stuff kept us off balance and they hit a few big plays over the middle where we were trailing,” said Wall. “We got away with those things the last couple weeks, but we didn’t tonight. Those guys can run. I’m not saying they’re super fast, but they can match up with us at any point.
“Their quarterback moved the ball around real well and we didn’t get to him too often: so you have to credit their offensive line.”
For the Gents, it was once again Obadiah Butler who carried the load and he did it in more ways than one.
Butler, a junior, racked up 135 yards on 13 carries, had several nice kickoff returns and added five receptions for 134 yards.
“Obadiah is still elusive,” said Wall of Butler. “He got his touches and he did a good job.”
Butler hauled in a 27-yard touchdown pass on the Gents’ first series of the second half and then took a handoff from Garrett on the first play of their next series and outran the Bulldogs’ defense for a 61-yard touchdown.
His third and final touchdown was on a wheel route where he hauled in Garrett’s pass over his shoulder, shrugged off a defender and bolted down the side line for the score.”
Garrett, like Abshire, also had a big night through the air.
The junior quarterback completed 9 of 20 pass attempts for 212 yards and three touchdowns. What hurt the Gents were a handful of drops by the receivers in big situations and a number of misfires to wide open receivers.
“You know, the timing was off a little bit,” said Wall. “You’re inside all week and then playing in the mud; it kind of changes where your placement is and stuff.”
Aside from a big night on the ground by Butler, the Gents mustered just 45 more yards rushing. Jai’Rece Lewis picked up 32 yards and a touchdown on nine carries and Garrett had six carries for 13 yards.
Of the Gents 28 rushing attempts, nine went for negative yards.
“They (Cecilia) had a lot of tackles for losses and they put us in some bad situations,” said Wall.
Early on, it was Abshire getting the Bulldogs on the board with his legs when he pulled the ball from his running back’s belly on a read option and raced down the field for a 60-yard touchdown with four minutes remaining in the opening frame to take a 7-0 advantage.
The Gents answered early in the second quarter after a pair of big runs by Butler and Lewis gave the Gents’ a first-and-goal situation at the 10-yard line. Three plays later, Lewis punched it in from four yards out. The extra point attempt was wide right, leaving the Bulldogs leading 7-6.
The Bulldogs responded with a nice drive of their own that resulted in a 28-yard touchdown pass from Abshire to Williams to push the lead to 14-6 with just over six minutes remaining in the half.
After going three-and-out on their next possession, the Gents caught a break when Ray Thomas intercepted a pass at the CHS 26-yard line.
Two big pass plays to Butler and Rapheus Joseph followed before Chris Moore hauled in a 11-yard pass that deflected off Joseph’s hands for a touchdown. Garrett ran in the 2-point conversion to knot the score at 14-14.
With just under two minutes remaining, the Bulldogs pulled off a little trickery to take the lead heading into the half.
On fourth down with time running down, Abshire hit Wallace Davis for a short game but the wideout pitched the ball to Danarious Journet on the sideline for a 23-yard touchdown as the half ended.
For Wall and the Gents, there is no time to hang their heads with district play beginning next week.
“You know, we’ve got to put this one behind us,” said Wall. “We’ve got district coming up, so we’ve got to roll. We’ve got a short week because we play on Thursday night. We can’t dwell on this one.”