Erath to take on West St. Mary Friday

The Erath Bobcats have a chance to pick up another district win and keep the season alive. Despite a 2-6 record, the Bobcats have not given up on the season and could still see the playoffs.

It all rests largely on Friday night, as the Erath squad takes on West St. Mary on the road.

With a 1-2 district record, the only win being against Abbeville, it’s a record that doesn’t quite reflect what the Bobcats are capable of. Head coach Doug Dotson said earlier in the year that the team’s own mistakes have cost them more in some situations than the other team’s level of play.

Injuries have also played a role in the struggles the team has faced. Ty Bares, who was out originally because of a shoulder injury, suffered a possible ankle injury Friday against Kaplan. Other injuries were just as devastating at the beginning of the season.

But the Bobcats also played one of their toughest games of the year against Kaplan, falling just short in a 47-39 battle.

The story of that game is similar to others for Erath. Doing the bulk of the running was freshman running back Elijah Mitchell, once again collecting well over 100 yards and scoring. Aaron Green also ran for the Bobcats, as well as Bares from under center.

Defensively, the Erath team has been down their captain, Jordan Sonnier, all season. However, leadership roles have been taken up by Tyler Guidry on the defensive line, and others. Green has also started to play more in defensive and special teams positions, which has given him the opportunity to make big plays from there, even scoring multiple times on special teams.

West St. Mary has a slightly better record than Erath at 3-5, but is winless in district play, going 0-3 against Notre Dame, Kaplan and North Vermilion.

The Wolfpack, however, played a tough game against Kaplan, keeping them to their second-lowest score of the season at 14 points (the lowest-scoring game for Kaplan this year was 13 against Church Point). The West St. Mary defense, in particular, has been able to keep most opponents from running away with the game (the largest scoring marging was 35-6 against Notre Dame).

The Bobcats will have to work hard to get a Friday night victory. The game in Baldwin is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff and is the next to last game of the season.