Tom Dodge
BREAUX BRIDGE – The Eunice Bobcats improved to 2-0 on the season with a 30-0 win over Breaux Bridge in a game that was moved to Wednesday night because of the approach of Hurricane Delta.
“To be honest, I was a little worried, I really wanted one more day of preparation,” Eunice head coach Andre Vige said of moving the game up. “I thought our guys answered the call – but we have a veteran team which I thought is to our advantage.”
The Tigers (0-2) recovered the ball to open the game on an on sides kick recovery at the Bobcat 45.
An off sides flag against the Bobcats helped Breaux Bridge gain five yards on the first offensive play of the game.
After the Tigers converted a first down, the Bobcat defense stood tall on fourth down at the EHS 34 when Ty’shun Joseph snared an interception to stop the Breaux Bridge drive.
Eunice couldn’t move the ball and was forced to punt after gaining just five yards on the drive.
The two defenses took control of the rest of the first period to force punts in each possession as the game remained scoreless going into the second period.
Breaux Bridge punted three plays into the second quarter and the Bobcats were in great field position near midfield.
EHS quarterback Simeon Ardoin connected with Hayden Darbonne for an impressive 34-yard play to move the Bobcats to the Breaux Bridge 15.
On the next play, Simeon Ardoin found Jeoul Hill open for a touchdown and Braden Rider’s kick gave the Bobcats a 7-0 lead with 11:15 left in the second quarter.
Breaux Bridge moved the ball from its own 33 to the Bobcat 30, but another fourth down stop by the Eunice defense halted the drive.
The Bobcats were forced to punt again on its next possession and Breaux Bridge moved down the field in seven plays.
But again on fourth down, the Bobcats forced an incomplete pass by Boyd to stop the drive at the EHS 36 with 2:20 left in the second period.
After a strong run by Hill, Simeon Ardoin connected with Hill to help the Bobcats move to the Tiger 33.
Hill then ran the ball three straight times including an eight-yard touchdown run.
Rider’s PAT increased the Bobcats’ lead to 14-0 with 28 seconds left before intermission.
“Our offense started off a little slow but scoring the two touchdowns in the second quarter helped us as we gained some momentum,” Vige said.
Breaux Bridge received the second half kickoff, but two plays later Joseph snared his second interception of the game to give the Bobcats the ball at the Tigers’ 43.
Simeon Ardoin quickly connected with Jaheim Mitchell for a 29-yard pass play as the Bobcats moved to the Breaux Bridge 14.
But the drive later stalled on fourth down on an incomplete pass as the Breaux Bridge defense held.
The Bobcat defense responded with a stop of its own to force a Tiger punt as Eunice’s next drive started near midfield midway through the third period.
After seven straight running plays by the Bobcat offense including a 16-yard run by Hill and an 11-yard scamper by Simeon Ardoin, EHS was inside the Breaux Bridge 10.
Simeon Ardoin then connected with Hill for an eight-yard scoring pass play and Hill added the two-point conversion to push the Bobcats ahead, 22-0 with 3:13 remaining in the quarter.
Breaux Bridge managed a first down with four straight runs and appeared poised to keep the drive going as the game moved into the fourth quarter.
But the Bobcat defense again stood tall and the fourth down snap sailed over the punter’s head and was then pushed out of the end zone for a safety.
With a 24-0 lead with 11:47 left in the game, the Bobcats took the free kick and two plays later Deon Ardoin scored on a 36-yard run but a holding penalty on the play erased the points.
The Bobcats converted the first down on the drive, but an incomplete pass on fourth down stopped the drive at the Breaux Bridge 32.
After quarterback sack by Dedric Vigers, Terrance Shillow then snared an interception to stop the Tigers’ drive.
A personal foul against Breaux Bridge after the play moved the Bobcats near midfield with 7:31 remaining in the game.
After five running plays moved the Bobcats to the Breaux Bridge 4, Deon Ardoin then scored on a short run. The PAT was no good, but Eunice led 30-0 with 4:43 left in the contest.
Breaux Bridge converted on fourth-and-1 in the closing minute, but Mitchell recovered a forced fumble as time expired as the Bobcats preserved the 30-0 shutout.
“I am very proud of our defense,” Vige said. “We encouraged the guys to force turnovers and they have done that.
“Last week we fumbled the opening kickoff and tonight Breaux Bridge recovered an onsides kick,” the coach said.
But our defense overcame some adversity and they are getting stops and getting the offense into a good position.”
Eunice has out scored its opponents 104-0 so far this season.
“If they don’t score, we can’t lose,” Vige said he told his team.
“When the defense gets good field position, the offense is very appreciative,” he said. “When the offense scores, the defense knows that makes their job easier – so it has been a total team effort so far.”
Eunice travels to Abbeville Friday night.
Abbeville defeated Beau Chene 36-6 Wednesday.
In other games, the Iota Bulldogs fell 58-56 in five overtimes to South Beauregard.
Church Point at Opelousas, Hamilton Christian at Basile, Port Barre at Mamou and St. Edmund at Highland Baptist games were all cancelled because of Hurricane Delta.