The Eunice High Bobcats finished their regular season with an 8-2 record, earning the second seed in the 2018 LHSAA Class 3A playoff bracket.
Coach Paul Trosclair’s Bobcats will take on the Brusly Panthers, the number 31 seed, on Friday at Bobcat Stadium.
The Panthers, under the guidance of head coach Hoff Schooler, completed their regular season with a 5-5 overall record and a 2-4 District mark.
The Panthers opened the season with three wins; defeating Port Allen (21-13), Northlake Christian (47-7) and Belaire (39-0). But the Panthers proceded to lose their next four games, falling to Baker (30-19), West Feliciana (41-14), University Lab (51-14), and Central of Baton Rouge (56-21). The Panthers regrouped to defeat Glen Oaks (38-8) and Mentorship Academy (40-14). The Panthers completed their regular season with a 41-14 loss to Madison Prep Academy.
Eunice High head coach Paul Trosclair expects that Brusly will be a challenge.
“They played in a tough district and I expect that they will be ready for us.” But Trosclair expects that his Bobcats will be ready to take on the challenge. “Our seniors have done a great job of keeping us pointed in the right direction this season. The attitude has been excellent over the season. It’s not as if we’ve played easy first round opponents, said Trosclair. “We’ve faced tough teams such as St. James, Farmerville and Kaplan in the opening game of the state playoffs in the past, so its not unusual.”
The Bobcats have been very productive on the offensive side of the ball this season. Senior Avery Lee broke the Bobcat career scoring with 235 points this season. Deon Ardoin has run for over 700 yards and Jeoul Hill for 600 yards. The receiver corps of the Bobcats is led by Jordan Ledet (24 receptions for 385 yards), Traelyn Cooper (14 for 230), Carlin Vigers (six for 130) and Tyler Darbonne (7 for 94). Austin Phillips has been steady as the PAT kicker for the Bobcats.
Brusly has been led offensively by Tyler Tussey, a 5’9’ 180-pound senior running back/fullback and Norman Lejeune III, who sees action at cornerback and wide receiver as a 6’2” 185 pounder. Conner Sorrell is 6-foot, 165 senior who sees action at both free safety and cornerback. The Panthers have some beef on the front lines in Collin Larson (6-1, 225) freshman guard and senior D’Andre Richard who can play any of three positions along the line at 6-3, 308 pounds. Senior Van Bynum is a 6-1, 203 pound middle linebacker.
