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VC head coach Ossie Blaize talks to his team during a timeout.

VC airs it out against Centerville

Vermilion Catholic quarterback J.T. Lege had ample reason to smile Friday night.
The rangy junior was nearly perfect against visiting Centerville, hitting 9-of-15 passes for 234 yards and touchdowns to four different receivers as the Screamin' Eagles rolled to a 56-20 homecoming victory.
It was VC's second impressive win in a row – by a 97-34 composite score – after a pair of narrow midseason defeats threatened to derail their campaign.
Now 4-5 overall and 4-2 in District 7-1A, the Eagles need a win in the season finale at Lafayette Christian to nail down a first-round home game in the Division IV playoffs.
“After those two losses, the seniors got us together and talked to us,” Lege said. “And Coach (Ossie Blaize), too. They said if we finished strong we still had hope for a good seed.
“There's definitely a lot of pressure here to make the playoffs and do well. This is my first year in the system, but they've done a good job bringing me along.”
He'll get no argument from Centerville after TD strikes of 44 yards to Alex LeBlanc, 66 to Matt Fontenot, 6 to Kris Constantine and 39 to Nick Smalley. The first score came on VC's second snap of the game and helped the Eagles soar.
“It's always important to be the first ones to score,” Lege said. “The offense started off well and the defense did a good job.
“On the first touchdown, we sent the running back out in motion and matched him against a linebacker – and Alex is one of the fastest players on the team. It was something we saw on film that we could take advantage of. We practiced it all week.”
LeBlanc caught four passes for 92 yards and ran five times for 74 and a 5-yard score as VC's versatile main weapon. VC needed just 23 snaps to net 375 yards.
Other scores came on Isaiah Pilette's 6-yard run, an 11-yard fumble return by J.R. Bazer and Dylan Dupree's 85-yard kickoff return,
Centerville (1-5, 1-8) got 128 yards and two scores rushing from De'Andre Kinchen.
Blaize isn't afraid of the possibilities once his Eagles get to postseason play.
It is true that the Eagles have been hampered by injuries – losing all-purpose back Gage Broussard to a right knee mishap on Friday night was the latest blow – but they've also shown the ability to compete with the best in the state, as witnessed by a 6-point earlier loss to Ascension Episcopal.
So, with a season finale next week at LCA, Blaize dares to ask, “Why not us?”
“We saw we didn't quit after a rough start to the season,” he said. “We kept playing hard. We played Ascension close (34-40) and beat ourselves against Central Catholic. We've learned we're still in the hunt. We're as good as anybody.
“It all comes down to next week.”

Central Catholic…. 40
Gueydan...............24

Central had little trouble beating Gueydan. The Bears had less than 100 yards of offense.
Mark Clark had 39 yards for nine carries and a touchdown for Gueydan.

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