You can add the Crowley Gents to the list of teams unable to stop the Church Point Bears’ running game this fall.
Thursday, Gents became the latest team to try and like Iota, Northwest, Eunice and others, they failed
The Bears (6-1, 5-0) racked up 545 total yards of offense against the Gents - all on the ground- in a posting a 42-34 victory Rice Festival eve that had CHS coach Jeptha Wall shaking his head afterward.
“We just couldn’t stop them,” said Wall, whose Gents fell to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in league play. “That fullback (Rodney Dupuis) and quarterback (Breelyn Jones) are super.”
Dupuis, a sophomore, torched the Gents for 280 yards and three touchdowns on 30 touches while Jones ran for 140 yards and three scores on just nine carries.
“They were just mowing over us,” said Wall. “It didn’t matter what front or anything that we changed, we couldn’t stop them.”
The Bears basically moved the ball at will and tallied 19 first downs while scoring on six of their 11 possessions.
And while Dupuis and Jones did most of the damage, Church Point coach John Craig Arceneaux was quick to also give credit to his offensive line.
“We did a great job of using formations to try and move some of those guys out of the box tonight and we did a great job of getting a hat on a hat and trying to dominate them (Crowley) up front,” said Arceneaux. “I challenged our offensive line this week because we knew they (Gents) were going to put nine guys in the box.”
Arceneaux added extra motivation by giving his linemen a little history on what used to be a heated rivalry.
“The last three times we’ve played Crowley, they beat us 124-0 and two of those three times they held us under 100 yards of total offense,” said Arceneaux. “I know that was several years back, but I reminded them of that and I challenged them this week and they stepped up. We absolutely dominated the box.”
Dupuis had yet another eye-opening game, breaking seven runs for over 10 yards, including four bursts that went for 20 yards or better. He busted loose for a 72-yard scoring run to late in the second quarter and added a 12-yard touchdown run early in the third frame.
Dupuis now has 1,339 yards and 15 touchdowns on 152 carries in just seven games.
“That back (Dupuis) is just so patient,” said Wall. “He looks like he’s not going anywhere and then all of a sudden he just pops one. He’s a special kid.”
Arceneaux agreed.
“For the old school football guys, Rodney is a Dalton Hilliard type back,” said Arceneaux. “He’s very big in the hips, very big in the thighs and he has great balance. He’s got the quickest little jump cut that I’ve seen. I’ve coached some pretty good running backs and he ranks up there with all of them.”
Not to be outdone, Jones had a pretty spectacular night as well.
The speedy quarterback made the most of his nine carries, scoring twice on short runs of 11 and 1 yard but his most impressive play of the night occurred on the first play of the second quarter. On second down and long, Jones hit the edge on a keeper and hit another gear as he outran the Gents’ secondary for a 73-yard touchdown.
Jones, who logs double duty in the secondary, also picked off a Marquis Garrett pass with just under four minutes remaining in the half that set up Dupuis’ 72-yard touchdown run.
“The kid is a dynamic football player,” said Arceneaux of his 5-foot-5 quarterback. “It’s a shame that he’s only 140 pounds. If he’d be 185, every school in the country would be coming to see him because of the way he can run.
“And with our struggles throwing the ball, he just gives us that little extra to where people can’t really just load and come after us.”
As good as the Bears were, the Gents had their moments, especially through the air.
And it all began with a little trickery after Jones scored on an 11-yard run on the Bears’ opening series of the game.
On the Gents’ first offensive play, Garrett handed off to Keith Wilson, who in turn pitched the ball to Paul Dugar who was lined up at receiver. Dugar then rifled a strike to a wide open Demarcus Dioron for a 46-yard touchdown.
“Our offensive coaches do a great job and we talked about that play before the game,” said Wall of the trick play. “We decided if the field position was right that we would try it and we executed it to perfection.”
Jones added his 73-yard touchdown run to give the Bears a 12-6 advantage to start the second quarter but the Gents had yet another answer.
On their ensuing drive, Garrett connected with Chris Lewis near the sideline and the junior wideout did the rest, side stepping a defender near the 20 en route to a 49-yard touchdown. Donald Francis plowed in for the two-point conversion and the Gents took their first and only lead of the game at 14-12.
However, Jones and Dupuis each scored one more time in the final 10 minutes of the first half to take a 26-14 advantage.
But then the Bears made one of their only mistakes of the night.
After taking over at their own 45 with just over a minute remaining, Arceneaux elected to go with a trick play of his own with fullback Trey Babineaux throwing one of Church Point’s two passes of the game.
Crowley’s Josh Burnett stepped in front of the intended receiver and logged the interception with 58 seconds left in the half.
That’s all Garrett needed as he completed four passes, including a 2-yard scoring strike to Rapheus Joseph that cut the lead to 26-20 entering the break.
The Bears began to pull away in the third quarter with a pair of touchdowns.
Dupuis hit paydirt from 12 yards out and Gavin Richard scored on a 6-yard run. Two-point conversion runs by Jones and Babineaux pushed the lead to 42-20 with just under three minutes remaining in the third.
The Gents didn’t pack it in, however.
After a 24-yard catch and run by Joseph, Obadiah Butler gashed Church Point’s defense for a 40-yard touchdown run. Garrett added the two-point conversion run and the Gents were within two scores at 42-28.
Garrett inched the hosts even closer when he connected with Chris Lewis once again midway through the fourth quarter, this time for a 63-yard scoring strike to cut the lead to 42-34.
The Gents had one last chance at a miracle comeback when they got the ball back at their own 21-yard line with 58 seconds remaining.
The rally was quickly thwarted, however.
Garrett had his helmet ripped off on a second-down play with 18 seconds remaining and had to sit out a play. Dugar took the final snap, but his pass downfield intended for Joseph was intercepted by Church Point to end the game.
Garrett completed 15 of 27 pass attempts for 293 yards and three touchdowns. Lewis had five catches for 175 yards while Joseph and Dioron each tallied 73 yards on six and three receptions, respectively.
“We were scared to death coming into this game because they (Crowley) have big athletes all over the field and Marquis can make things happen with his feet when it breaks down,” said Arceneaux. “He can really put a lot of pressure on you. And it’s just so tough for us to cover those big athletes.”
Richard was the Bears’ third leading back with 103 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
Looking ahead, the victory was basically Church Point’s final big hurdle to get over on their way to possibly their first ever undefeated district season. With the Big Three - Crowley, Iota and Northwest - out of the way, the Bears wrap up the regular season with a pair of home contests against Mamou and Port Barre, who have combined for just one victory thus far.
“Church Point has never had an undefeated district championship season, so I put that in front the kids this week and just reminded them of that,” said Arceneaux, who was the district champion in 2013 after Livonia had to forfeit a victory over the Bears. “This will be the first time in the history of the school, since 1951 that we will be the outright district champs and we’ve earned it on the field.”
For the Gents, it’s back to the drawing board as they try and position themselves for the playoffs with two regular-season games remaining.
“We have four losses and we’ve lost all four by a total of 16 points. That’s a tough pill to swallow,” said Wall. “We have to win two more games, see where we sit in the playoff picture, if we can get ourselves there, and see if we can catch that mojo.”