Eagles district champs again

For the fourth consecutive year, the Vermilion Catholic Eagles have taken claimed a district title, and they did it in week nine this year against Hanson Memorial.

In a 47-14 win, the Eagles solidified their championship in a decisive win that saw Mike Campbell walk away with five touchdowns and 154 yards in 17 carries.

Hanson’s Tigers were held to a three-and-out on the first drive of the game, which gave Vermilion Catholic all they needed to turn around and score. Campbell started VC’s offense off with a 15-yard run. Brennan Gallet passed it to Emile Trahan on the next play for 22 yards.

 Three plays later, Campbell ran it in for an 11-yard touchdown.

Five drives later, a defensive stalemate was broken as Gallet connected with Tyler Derouen for an 18-yard touchdown pass to go up 14-0 just before the end of the first quarter.

Hanson broke away on a long drive a few minutes later and narrowed the VC lead to just a touchdown, scoring on a short pass to make it 14-7.

The Eagles, however, responded in a drive that was almost all Campbell, who ran a total of 47 yards in five plays, scoring on the fifth. It was 21-7.

Hanson went three-and-out again and VC responded with another Campbell touchdown. Hanson was close to scoring on the following drive, but Shay LaPorte nixed that with the first regular season interception in his high scholl career. That wasn’t his only first, however, as he scored his first career touchdown in high school.

Two scores later, VC ended the half with a 41-14 lead over the Tigers. Campbell would get another score in the third quarter before the second team went in.

The victory solidified the District 7-3A title for the Eagles, who needed the win to get it outright. Hanson needed the win to get at least a piece of it, but their dreams were dashed by an explosive Eagles offense and a static VC defense.

Head coach Russell Kuhns, along with other coaches, were soaked by their players at the end of the game in honor of the victory. Despite the chill in the air, Kuhns was proud of his squad’s accomplishments.

“Our next goal is to go 10-0,” he said. “We’ll worry about the playoffs after next week.”

Next week’s challenge is Ascension Episcopal, who came away with a loss to Highland Baptist on Friday night.

District 7-1A has had multiple teams appearing in or close to the top ten in the LSWA polls each week, with VC consistently ranking highly as the season has progressed.

The players are excited about the chance to go undefeated in the regular season for the first time since 2011. That record would also make it a banner year for Kuhns, who recently became a new father, as well.

It’s also been a big year for Connor Menard, who broke the single season record for most receiving yards in VC history. The previous record was held at 740, but Menard broke that in the first quarter, going on to pick up 115 total yards in seven receptions on Friday night.

Gallet completed 17 of 27 passes for 229 yards, with the bulk of it going to Menard. Also playing a big role was Emile Trahan, a pleasant surprise for the VC squad.

“We knew going into the season that Emile was going to be good,” Kuhns said. “I just didn’t know he’d be this good. We set high expectations for all the kids. If you don’t expect a lot out of them, then they’re not going to give you a lot.

“I try to set the bar really high and they keep surprising me by going way beyond them,” he added. “It’s been a great thing to see.”

Toward the end of the game, VC had to rotate different players at the quarterback position. Gage Trahan, the backup quarterback, is currently seriously injured, according to Kuhns.