AES stuns Vermilion Catholic in final 30 seconds

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”
Henry IV

YOUNGSVILLE – Vermilion Catholic’s hold on District 7-1A football slipped a notch here Friday night when upstart Ascension Episcopal scored with 30 seconds remaining for a dramatic 40-39 upset.
It was a classic shootout, complete with brilliant plays, mental mistakes and enormous point swings.
AES scored the first 12 points, VC answered with 31 straight and AES got in gear again for a 20-spot before each scored in the wild final minutes.
But classics are more enjoyable with a win, and the setback dropped the Screaming Eagles to 4-2 on the year as they regroup for another run at the playoffs.
“Our goals are still in front of us,” said junior Griffin Vicknair, whose fumble recovery with 1:31 to go should have snuffed out the Blue Gators’ last chance. “District, the playoffs, those things are still there.
“It was a big game tonight, with a lot of ups and downs.”
Tyler Derouen was brilliant in defeat for VC, hauling in 9 passes for 186 yards and scoring on runs of 1, 4 and 2 yards among his 14 carries for 43 yards.
Quarterback Hunter Frith completed 19-of-36 passes for 335 yards and a touchdown, but suffered three crucial, uncharacteristic interceptions in the second half.
For the 6-0 Blue Gators, the landmark victory was led by UL commitment Jake Arceneaux, who hit 18-of-27 passes for 295 yards and three TD’s, rushed for a score and the game-winning 2-point conversion and even picked off Frith.
He got support from Ja’Ceiry Linzer (23-120-2 rushing) and receivers Ronald LeBlanc (5-141-1) and Zach Ronquillo (10-111-2).
Arceneaux opened well, rushing for a 6-yard score and hitting Ronquillo from 6 yards out to go up 12-0 – neither of which rattled the visitors, who promptly tallied the next 31 points.
Derouen’s first two touchdowns earned a 14-12 edge with 4:19 left in the half, and Frith’s 5-yard pass to Devren Constantine upped it to 21-12. An AES kickoff return lapse gave the Eagles the ball again, so Emile Trahan kicked a 22-yard field goal as VC took a 24-12 lead at the break.
When the visitors took the second-half kickoff and drove 73 yards in 11 plays and capped the march with a fire-drill TD pass of 8 yards from field goal holder Andrew Meche to Williams Noegel, making it 31-12, it looked like the visitors’ night.
But the Blue Gators stormed back. Arceneaux fired a 50-yard bomb to LeBlanc to re-awaken the crowd. Camp Juneau picked off Frith and Arceneaux hit LeBlanc for 44 yards to key a 79-yard drive capped by Linzer’s 2-yard plunge to draw within 31-26 after three periods.
VC answered, but an errant Frith aerial was pilfered by Arceneaux, who then hit Ronquillo for 38 to the Eagles’ 22 to set up Linzer from the 2 for a 32-31 lead.
Derouen rode to the rescue again, leading a 10-play, 63-yard march and scoring the go-ahead TD from the 2 and catching Frith’s two-point extra point pass with 5:21 left.
Down 39-32, the Gators came back again but appeared doomed when Arceneaux fumbled and lost the ball to Vicknair with 1:31 to play.
“We got pressure on the quarterback, and someone hit him and knocked the ball out,” Vicknair said. “I reached out and grabbed it.”
That could have closed the door, but on third down, Frith was intercepted by Josh Hebert at the Gators’ 45.
Back-to-back calls against VC – the first for pass interference, the second for protesting the first call – put AES on the Eagles’ 25. Two plays later Ronquillo scored on a 24-yard pass when he cut back instead of going out of bounds to stop the clock.
When Arceneaux powered in for the two-point conversion, the victory was complete.
“We’ll get back to it and work hard this week,” Vicknair said. “We have another big game on Thursday at Central Catholic.”
The Eagles know they’ll get everyone’s best shot. That’s how it is at the top and how hard it is to stay there.