Patriot defense wards off West St. Mary

Despite an offense that couldn’t seal drives with touchdowns, the North Vermilion Patriots pulled together a 14-12 victory over the West St. Mary Wolfpack.

“They did exactly what I thought they would,” Patriots head coach Tommy Byler said. “They are a talented football team. We couldn’t get anything going.

“We moved the ball up and down the field, but we never turned it into points,” he added.

A turnover got West St. Mary the first score of the night, but they couldn’t capitalize on the point after.

In the second quarter, North Vermilion took the lead when Ty Desormeaux threw a 4-yard pass to Castle Drummer for a touchdown, and Trey Broussard picked up the point-after kick.

“We ran the ball a lot,” Byler said. “Taylor Abshire ran very well tonight. He really stuck it out and played a great game.

“We passed well when we needed to,” he added. “And that was how it went for us, we made the plays we needed to. We just needed more.”

Desormeaux went 10-15 in passes with 100 yards and a touchdown pass. Abshire ran 18 times for 94 yards and a touchdown.

Broussard came in second in rushing, with 10 runs for 43 yards.

Up next for North Vermilion is the potential district title game against Notre Dame.

“Our kids know what’s at stake,” Byler said. “Every other coach has said it: Notre Dame is the standard you want to set your team by. It’s just one of those games. We’ll talk about it, but our kids know they can’t be intimidated just because it’s Notre Dame. They know it’s an uphill climb.”

That game is set for this Friday, with kickoff at 7 p.m.