Tom Dodge
Sept. 14, 1961.
That was the first time the Bearcats and Blue Jays faced each other in 11-man football as Basile won 28-12.
29-28.
That is last year’s final score as St. Edmund won over Basile in double overtime.
The two rivals open District 4-1A play Friday night at Blue Jay Field.
“To open district against a long-time rival just adds to the intensity of the game.” St. Edmund head coach Andy Hargroder said. “They don’t want to lose to us and we don’t want to lose to them.”
Basile (1-2) is coming off a 42-14 loss to Sacred Heart of Ville Platte, while the Blue Jays (2-1) rolled to a 55-18 win over Mamou.
“It was big win for us,” Hargroder said. “Hopefully it helps us as we head into tough district play.
“A win this week would go a long way to keeping us in the district hunt.”
Basile had several scoring chances early against Sacred Heart, but a fumble and a fourth-down stop kept the Bearcats out of the end zone.
“If you watch the film of their first quarter against Sacred Heart, it is hard to believe Basile didn’t win that game.” Hargroder said. “They are a lot better than their scores indicate: a 40-7 loss to Iota and a 16-14 win over Mamou.”
Trailing 14-0, Basile responded with a 70-yard touchdown toss from Dawson Ashford to Jaylen Thomas.
Sacred Heart took advantage of another Bearcat fumble to push ahead 28-7 at the intermission.
After the Trojans pushed ahead 42-7 in the third period, Basile scored when Andre Reed raced 89 yards to the end zone to close the final gap to 42-14.
Hargroder said they can’t give up the big plays against the Bearcats.
“If they break into the open, we don’t have the speed to catch them,” the Blue Jay coach said. “We need to control both lines of scrimmage.”
Hargroder said he wants to see his team control the time of possesssion and keep the other team’s offenses on the sidelines.
“We need to play well, not have turnovers or costly penalties,” he said. “Against Sacred Heart, the touchdown called back because we had too many people on the field cost us,” Hargroder said. “We would have gone into halftime down only seven points instead of 14 – it could have been a whole different ball game in the second half.”
Hargroder said Basile gave Sacred Heart way too many chances and didn’t score when they could have scored.
“They are going to be real ready to play us,” Hargroder said of the Bearcats.
The Blue Jay coach was pleased with their offensive production against Mamou as St. Edmund rolled up 425 yards of total offense, sparked by 351 yards rushing.
Luke Doucet gained 165 yards on 16 carries, while Brad Miller had 113 yards on 16 carries.
Peyton Marcantel had two catches for 74 yards – both touchdowns.