Patriots look to go 3-0 in district

The North Vermilion Patriots are on the road for the first time since the beginning of October. This time, they head to West St. Mary to take on one of two new district foes.

North Vermilion is 2-0 in district, 3-4 overall, and tied with Notre Dame, the other of the two new district opponents, for first place. The Patriots are looking to stay at the top in advance of meeting Notre Dame next week.

As far as West St. Mary goes, the Wolfpack is also 3-4, but 0-2 in district. tied with the Abbeville Wildcats in third place.

The Patriots go into the game with a two-game winning streak and a lot going in their favor. Of their three victories this year, Trey Broussard scored 20 points in two of them. Last week, the defense picked up four passes, and returned three of them for touchdowns.  Good field position allowed them to put a lot of points on the board, due in part to their defense stopping Abbeville on several drives.

Ty Desormeaux still leads the way on offense, but there are others stepping up to do some quarterback duties, including Broussard and wide receiver Dade Dieterich.

The Patriots defense, which played a very impressive game against both Kaplan and Abbeville, is being led by Collin Vaughn, with Castle Drummer and others adding to the defensive plays responsible for stopping both the Pirates and the Wildcats.

West St. Mary played a tough game against Kaplan last week, with the Pirates edging out 14-10. The Wolfpack has three wins on the season, against Opelousas, Morgan City and Ferriday.

While the Patriots are the favorite going into Friday night’s game, the Wolfpack has some dangerous weapons to use.

And even if they do win, the remainder of their schedule is a challenge.

As mentioned, the Notre Dame Pios will be hosting North Vermilion next week. The last week of the regular season will have the Patriots hosting Erath in a district rivalry game that saw the Patriots fall by one point, 29-28, in a physical and emotional game.

The West St. Mary Wolfpack hosts North Vermilion Friday night with a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Patriots are looking to keep a good district record going up against tough district teams in the remainder of the regular season. And, unlike others in the district, the Patriots have maintained their health, and have a largely fresh depth.