Lafourche teams go winless in Week 4 prep slate

E.D. White led 20-0 on Friday night against Woodlawn.

But the game flipped and the Panthers battled back to secure a crucial non-district win.

Woodlawn beat the Cardinals 29-26 on Friday night, rallying from the early deficit to improve to 2-2 on the season. The Cardinals dropped to 3-1 in defeat.

LSU commitment and Panthers quarterback Rickie Collins made several big plays in the rally to help his team, but E.D. White had chances, as well.

The Cardinals had a 43-yard field goal try on the final play of regulation which would have sent the game to overtime.

But the kick sailed wide and short, icing the game and sending it to its final margin.

“So proud of our kids,” Woodlawn coach Marcus Randall said. “We had to overcome some adversity and we had to battle. But we kept fighting, got into our groove and found a way to bounce back and get the win.”

E.D. White was in control early.

The Cardinals’ power running game got going, which set the Cardinals up for offensive success and the early 20-0 lead.

But Woodlawn settled down. The Panthers got 14 unanswered to trim the deficit to 20-14 at halftime, then they took a 21-20 lead early in the fourth quarter.

But the Cardinals struck back with a quick strike touchdown drive to re-take the lead and go up 26-21.

Then Collins made his mark. On the Panthers’ final drive, the LSU commitment made several big throws, including the game-winning strike to put the team up for good. The Panthers hit a fourth down on the final drive, then pushed the ball into the end zone, also hitting a 2-point play to go ahead by 3.

With a final shot at possession, E.D. White gave themselves a chance, getting into field goal range.

But the game-tying try fell short, icing Woodlawn’s win.

The Cardinals will next face Thibodaux in a battle of schools from the same city.

TIGERS HAMMERED BY EAST ST. JOHN

When asked on Thursday why East St. John was 3-0, Thibodaux coach Chris Dugas had a one-word answer: speed.

The Wildcats flashed that speed on Friday night, running past Thibodaux in a blowout win.

East St. John ran past the Tigers 57-26 on Friday night, improving to 4-0 on the season, while dropping the Tigers to 1-3.

The game started as a back-and-forth shootout early with both teams scoring easily on the other.

But in the middle stages, it was just East St. John doing the scoring. The Wildcats led 26-20 at halftime, then dominated the second half, soaring out to a 31-6 advantage in the second half to push past a Tigers’ defense that didn’t have answers.

During the week, Dugas said he was going to use players both ways on defense to help fix a unit that has struggled throughout the course of the season.

But on Friday, the Wildcats ran wild, enjoying success both running and throwing to keep Thibodaux off balance.

The Tigers will face E.D. White on Friday.

TROJANS STRUGGLE WITH FRANKLIN’S ATHLETES

Thibodaux wasn’t the only team who struggled to contain athletes in space on Friday night.

Franklin ran past Central Lafourche 56-37 on Friday night, running past a Trojans’ team that couldn’t build on last week’s momentum, falling to 1-3 on the season. It was Franklin’s first win of the year.

The Hornets led throughout, jumping on the Trojans and never looking back. Central Lafourche made runs at Franklin and got close. But each time they did, Franklin would add another score to keep distance between the teams.

Central Lafourche got their ground game going at times during the game for a second-straight week.

But Franklin got several big plays against a Trojans’ defense that was unable to slow down the Hornets’ athletes. It was the first win of the season for Franklin.

GATORS GET FIRST WIN OVER TARPONS

Down 14-0 in the 3rd quarter, South Lafourche pushed the football to within a foot from the end zone.

On fourth and goal from that spot, the Tarpons tried an inside run and were stuffed.

Three plays later, the Gators had gone the entire length of the field to go up 21-0 and had put the game away.

South Terrebonne beat South Lafourche 28-8 on Friday, improving to 1-3 on the season, while dropping the Tarpons to the same record.

Both coaches said after the game that that third quarter goal line stand was big in deciding the game.

“That was huge,” Gators coach Aaron Babin said. “We challenge our defense in situations like that. We turn over the football, give them a short field. We challenge our defense to pick up the offense there and they did. That was a big swing in the game.”

“You punch it in there, and who knows?” Tarpons coach BJ Young added. “It’s a 14-8 ballgame. Everything could be different. Give credit to South Terrebonne. They were hungry. They just looked like a team that wanted it a little bit more.”

The Gators’ offense sputtered throughout the game with penalties, snap issues and turnovers getting in their way.

But what couldn’t be stopped was slot back Javon Ricks, who had 3 long touchdown runs in the win — part of a huge night.

The Tarpons got their lone score on a long touchdown pass from Josh Mack to Jacob Curole. Mack started for an injured Carson Orgeron and had moments. Young said he was proud of the way the 9th grader played.

“He’s like 13 or 14 years old, man,” Young said. “He made some mistakes, but that’s expected. We all made mistakes. I thought he played really well. He did a lot of things well. I coach him hard, but that’s because I want him to be great.”

The Tarpons will face Lutcher next week — a tough challenge against one of the best teams in the state.

Young said the focus this week is not on Lutcher, but on fixing the Tarpons. He said he feels the team has become too relaxed and isn’t practicing hard enough.

“Our effort has to be better,” Young said. “And it starts in practice. The effort isn’t there. And that’s on me. It’s my job to fix that. And this week, we will start that process.”