John Burson
CHURCH POINT – The Eunice High Bobcats and the Church Point High Bears fought to the finish here in District 5-3A action with the Bears claiming a 28-17 victory over the Bobcats.
The Bears received the opening kickoff and drove into Bobcat territory before giving up the ball on a fumble.
But the Cats fumbled it back to the Bears on the very next play, setting up a Bears’ touchdown on a 12-yard touchdown run by Rodney Dupuis.
The Bears missed the PAT try, but took a 6-0 lead at the 9:07 mark of the first quarter.
The Bobcats answered right back, getting field position on Avery Lee’s 21-yard kickoff return.
On first down, Dameon Frank found running room on the outside and picked up a first down on a 14-yard run.
The Cats moved down to the 28-yard line of the Bears on a 10-yard pass from Jaden Brasseaux to Josh Youngblood. After a minus run on the next play, Brasseaux completed an 18-yard pass to Tyler Darbonne for a first down at the 18-yard line.
On the next play, Frank turned the corner for an 18-yard touchdown run.
The Cats missed the PAT but tied the game at 6-6 with 4:32 left in the opening quarter.
The Bears took possession of the football at their own 35 and two plays later Frank picked off an interception at the 32-yard line.
The Cats moved the ball to the 3-yard line, but had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Austin Phillips to take a 9-6 lead with 38 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Bears were unable to move the football and were forced to punt. The Cats took over possession at their own 11 and on second down picked up 14 yards on a Brasseaux to Jordan Ledet pass, but the Cats were forced to punt on a fourth-and-17 with the Bears taking possession at their own 40-yard line.
It took the Bears only six plays to score a touchdown and Austin Manuel kicked the PAT to put the Bears on top by a 13-9 margin. The Cats got a 28-yard kickoff return by Lee and Ledet added 10 yards on a run, but the Bears held the Cats on a fourth-and-four with 3:14 left in the half. The Bears drove from their own 9 to the Eunice 25, but with just eight seconds left on the clock, a Jones pass was broken up by Ledet to on fourth down and the Cats ran out the time to bring on the half with the Bears holding a 13-9 advantage.
The Bobcats received the kickoff to start the second half but struggled to move the ball against the Bears’ defense. A 38-yard punt by Brasseaux pinned the Bears back at their own 29, but a run by Dupuis of 31 yards sparked Church Point attack as they moved the ball 41 yards in five carries to move down to the Bobcat 9-yard line. Dupuis scored on a run and Jones was successful on the two-point conversion to give the Bears a 21-9 lead with 5:30 left in the third quarter.
The Cats received the kickoff and picked up three first downs as they advanced the ball into Bears’ territory thanks to a 46-yard drive to the Church Point 13-yard line. The Bears held the Cats out of the end zone and a bad snap on a field goal attempt gave the Bears possession at their own 26 as the clock moved toward the end of the third quarter.
The Bears got a big boost in the changing of field position and proceeded to put together a drive from their own 26 to the Bobcat 14-yard line. Four plays later, the Bears scored a touchdown on a one-yard run by Gavin Richard and Manuel’s PAT kick.
The Cats got a drive started at their own 31 and drove into Bear territory on the strength of runs by Lee of 11, 5, and 4 yards. Lee completed the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run with 4:30 left in the game. Lee ran for the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 28-17. An onside kick attempt by the Bobcats was recovered by the Bears, who then ran out the remainder of the clock to take the victory.