Tom Dodge
It was a revenge game for the Bobcats against the Rams in the opening round of the Class 4-A football playoffs.
Last season, Bastrop earned an 8-7 win in the second round in wet conditions
Friday night, the Bobcats rolled to a 36-0 victory over the Rams in a steady rain.
Eunice will travel to No. 26 Belle Chase as the Cardinals grabbed a 35-14 upset win over No. 7 George Washington Carver.
“I was worried about Bastrop,” Andre Vige said. “Last year we played in the same conditions and we cam up a point short.
“I thought our defense played lights out, our special teams was real good and the whole team played outstanding.”
Eunice took advantage of several Bastrop miscues to jump out to 22-0 first quarter lead.
After holding the Rams on the opening possession, the Bobcats recovered a mishandled snap deep in Bastrop territory.
“From film study, we saw they had a weakness in the punting game,” Vige said. “I told the team on Wednesday our plan was to defer, get and three-and-out – block the punt and go score.
On fourth down, Eunice quarterback connected with a wide-open Zach Suire for a 20-yard touchdown.
“It was great pass and even better catch,” Vige said. “I think they weren’t ready for that play.”
After the Rams jumped off side on the extra point, Eunice changed to a two-point conversion run to push the Bobcats ahead, 8-0 with 6:46 left in the first period.
“Sometimes an extra point means a lot,” Vige said of the two-point conversion,” he said. “We remembered what happened last year.”
The Eunice defense held again on Bastrop’s next possession, forcing an incomplete pass on fourth down as the Bobcats took over near midfield.
After several strong runs by Deon Ardoin and a personal foul penalty against the Rams, the Bobcats capped the drive with a four-yard run by Jeoul Hill.
Braden Rider’s PAT pushed Eunice ahead 15-0 with 3:24 left in the quarter.
The Bobcats recovered another dropped snap by the Rams’ punter to start Eunice’s next drive inside the Bastrop 20 with 1:56 remaining in the period.
Simeon Ardoin connected with Hayden Darbonne for a 13-yard play and later Ardoin closed the drive with a one-yard touchdown run.
Rider’s PAT increased the Bobcats’ lead to 22-0 as the game moved to the second period.
Bastrop mounted its best drive of the first half before Ty’shun Joseph snared an interception to give the ball back to the Bobcat offense.
Runs by Deon Ardoin and Hill moved the ball to near midfield, followed by a 45-yard beautiful scoring pass from Simeon Ardoin to Hayden Darbonne.
Rider’s kick pushed the Bobcats ahead, 29-0 with late in the half.
The Eunice defense made another strong stand as Myles Woods recovered a Ram fumble near midfield.
Eunice was held on fourth down, but the Bobcats took a 29-0 margin into the intermission.
“I told the team at halftime to play like the game was 0-0,”Vige said.
“I wanted a long drive and put in the end zone and put the game away.”
Eunice moved ball in the second half with a time consuming 9:15, 15-play drive.
Deon Ardoin has several strong runs to help the Bobcats move deep into Ram territory.
Higginbotham gained six yards to the Bastrop 1 and Deon Ardoin capped the drive with a short touchdown.
Rider’s PAT increased the Bobcats’ lead to 36-0 with 2:00 left in the third quarter.
The two defenses then took over as both the Rams and Bobcats were stopped twice on fourth down.
Bastrop had one last chance to avoid the shutout with 4:39 left in the game, but their seven-play drive ended as time ran out.