Patterson rolls past Patriots despite Dupuy’s performance

LEROY – Connor Dupuy had the kind of game most players can only dream about.
Unfortunately for Dupuy and his North Vermilion teammates, his virtuoso Friday night performance was obscured by a nightmare 62-17 loss at the hands of the Patterson Lumberjacks in District 8-3A action at NVHS.
The Patriots’ Swiss army knife of versatility kicked a 46-yard field goal for his team’s only lead of the night at 3-0.
He escaped for a 75-yard touchdown on a post pattern hook-up with Dade Dieterich, and that wasn’t even his best receiving moment.
That came later, when Dupuy tipped a pass to himself and gained 53 yards, giving him four grabs for 168 yards.
Throw in four rushes for 17 yards, four kickoff returns for 80 more, and a pair of extra points and …
Like the TV ad screams – but wait, there’s more!
Dupuy also completed a 52-yard flea flicker pass to Dieterich as he accounted for a remarkable 317 yards and 11 of his team’s 17 points.
“Connor’s a good ball player,” NVHS coach Richard Prejean said. “We knew that last year. He’s savvy, he knows the game and he knows how to go get the ball.”
The trouble is, the Lumberjacks had plenty of weapons of their own to counter Dupuy. In their first four possessions of the game, coach Chad Blanchard’s visitors ran 15 plays, gained 223 yards and scored four touchdowns that made it 28-10 after one quarter.
A fifth score came on a fumble run-back after Dupuy’s only miscue of the night, and two more Blitzkrieg attacks – 94 yards, 10 snaps – upped the damage to 49-10 at halftime.
(It was almost worse than that with Sirbathian Charles throwing for the end zone as the half ended.)
None of that surprised Prejean, who was left searching for words to buoy his troops at the break.
“We knew they were good,” he said. “(Kaplan coach) Tank Lotief said they were explosive. They have five open-field runners who are all tough to catch. But what impressed me was their linemen. They can all run.
“They’re impressive to watch, not to game-plan for.”
“We knew coming in what kind of team they are,” Dupuy said. “We just had to do our thing, and work on getting better.”
Patterson improved to 7-2 overall and 5-0 in 8-3A with the win, while North Vermilion fell to 3-6 and 1-4 awaiting next week’s finale against Berwick.
“I think it’s like it was last year – win and you’re in (the playoffs),” Prejean said. “We’lll try to salvage the season. I sure don’t want to go 3-7. I will say this – we stayed together tonight and kept fighting.”
Dieterich ran for 40 yards, passed for 150 and caught the 52-yarder from Dupuy, while Dyland Dent ran 15 times for 63 yards and a score. But it was Dupuy who epitomized NVHS’s effort.
His early 31-yard catch that set up his field goal was a harbinger of the 75-yarder to come.
“We knew they were in ‘man’ coverage, and that they’d stick on us,” he said. “We call it the whip. I had to stutter, then get inside of him. When I was able to get under him, it was wide open.”
Dupuy even found another gear for separation when it looked like he might be caught.
The 53-yarder was more dramatic as he climbed over the defender, tipped the ball to himself and dashed ahead to set up Dent’s 16-yard score.
“It was an ‘8’ route, a post,” Dupuy said. “I was trying to get depth on him. I knew I had to go up, and bring it down.”
All in a day’s work for the slender speedster.
“As a utility player, I just try to be where the team needs me the most,” he said.
The Patriots will need him again next week, with postseason at stake. Maybe they won’t be so outnumbered next time.