Tom Dodge
When Hurricane Laura forced LaGrange to cancel its football season before it could even begin, Eunice High head coach Andre Vige knew he would have to find another team to fill that void.
After weeks of searching for an opponent, the Bobcats (No. 9 in the LSWA Class 4-A polls) will take on the Notre Dame Pioneers (No. 7 in Class 2-A polls).
Notre Dame (No. 3 ranked in Division III power rankings) opened the season with wins over Comeaux (41-7), Teurlings Catholic (46-26), Kaplan (35-6) and Welsh (41-7).
The Pioneers’ only loss was against Lafayette Christian Academy (42-21) as Notre Dame then earned wins over Rayne (48-14) and Lake Arthur (62-13).
“It will be a great challenge for us,” Vige said of the upcoming game against the Pioneers.
“They are a well disciplined and talented team,” he said. “They are a power program and we will have our hands full in all three phases – offense, defense and special teams.”
The Bobcats (4-1) earned the District 4-4A title last week with a 55-14 win over North Vermilion.
“I didn’t know what to expect after such a long layoff,” Vige said of the win over the Patriots after seeing two games erased due to COVID-19 issues.
“I was worried about some rust on the offensive execution, but we played well.
“On defense we flew around to the ball and played our assignments well,” the coach said.
The LHSAA announced last week that because of so many cancellations this season, it is not recognizing district champions for playoff seeding purposes.
“It is one of our goals every year,” Vige said of the district title. “Coach Paul Trosclair stressed the importance of winning a district championship.”
Eunice enters Friday’s game as the No. 6 team in the LHSAA Class 4-A power rankings.