By Dave Moormann
MaxPreps.com
Shreveport Evangel Christian quarterback Dez Duron has bested his boyhood idol.
Duron threw a school-record eight touchdown passes against Springhill last week. In the process, he broke the old record of six set by current St. Louis Rams quarterback Brock Berlin against New Orleans Sarah Reed in 1999.
“Brock was the guy I looked up to when I was little,” Duron said.
It was Duron’s turn to captivate others with his production against winless Springhill. Evangel, ranked third in Class 2A, improved to 2-2.
Duron threw four first-quarter touchdown passes in hitting Quinn Giles for scores of 22 and 23 yards, Eric Thomas for 5 yards and Thomas Bridgewater for 12 yards. Giles and Thomas caught two more touchdown passes apiece, while Duron finished 28-of-37 for 420 yards and no interceptions.
“Dez is a humble guy,” Evangel coach John Bachman said. “He's a kid that’s a leader. He’s a real complete package on and off the field.”
Giles had second-half touchdown receptions of 45 and 52 yards, with Thomas grabbing them from 4 and 18 yards. In all, Giles caught seven passes for 148 yards.
As if those weren’t enough, backup quarterback David Dee Duron threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Jay Whatley.
Reed Runs Neville Past Marshall, Texas
Not only did visiting Monroe Neville beat Class 5A, Marshall, Texas, but the Tigers did it in stunning fashion.
With DeAndre Reed rushing 25 times for 238 yards and two touchdowns, Neville overwhelmed Marshall, 42-13. Reed scored on runs of 10 and 7 yards as Neville raced to a 29-0 halftime lead. The Tigers (3-1) also jumped to seventh in the latest Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 3A state rankings.
Neville forced four first-half turnovers in taking its 29-point lead. Quarterback Taylor Burch began the scoring with a 14-yard touchdown run. He picked up a bad snap on the extra-point and fired a two-point conversion pass to Rico Pollard.
Neville capped the first-half scoring with Josh Ellis completing a nine-play, 75-yard drive. Burch threw another two-point conversion pass, this time to Truman Van Veckhoven.
Neville’s lopsided victory atoned for a 30-23 loss to Marshall last season.
Struggling Rivals Renew Series with Emotional OT Game
In a Catholic school rivalry featuring teams with uncharacteristically sub-par records, Baton Rouge Catholic and New Orleans Jesuit put on a show worthy of their storied history.
Jesuit held off visiting Catholic in overtime, 30-27, to win its first game in three tries. Catholic fell to 1-2.
“There is no doubt how big this win is,” Jesuit coach Wayde Keiser said. “We were 0-2 coming into this game against a very good Catholic team. This is a huge win for our guys.”
Jesuit quarterback Ethan Oddo sealed the deal with a touchdown pass to Cooper Petagna after Catholic had gone ahead on Chris Sciamba’s overtime field goal. Sciamba had missed a field goal with seven seconds left in regulation that would have won the game.
Catholic’s loss spoiled a record-setting performance from quarterback Zack Oliver, who completed a school-record 22 passes in 35 attempts for 279 yards and two touchdowns.
But Oliver also lost a fumble on the game’s opening drive as Catholic committed four turnovers. Oddo matched Oliver with two touchdown passes in regulation.
Oddo finished 14- of-23 for 167 yards and three touchdowns. Two of them went to Beau Mothe, who caught seven passes for 110 yards.
Peabody Freshman Stars in Debut
If the rest of his varsity career is anything like his debut, Alexandria Peabody freshman Jalen Richard is destined for future glory.
Richard made his first varsity game a memorable one as he rushed 12 times for 122 yards and a touchdown in leading Peabody past New Orleans J.S. Clark, 40-8, for its first win in three games.
“It's exciting,” Richard said with a wide grin. “No words can explain how I’m feeling right now. I had a lot of help from the seniors….Man, I am just speechless.”
Richard wasn’t the only freshman to score in Peabody’s homecoming. First-year defensive lineman Murrel Roland returned an interception for a 28-yard touchdown. Roland’s cousin, senior fullback JaQuaveous Weaver, rushed eight times for 87 yards and three touchdowns.
“It feels good to get that first win,” Weaver said. “It's like a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders. It’s crazy.”
East St. John Falls Short Again Against No. 1 Team
Pity poor Reserve East St. John. As well as the Wildcats have played, they’re still winless in two games. Then again, they’ve had to play back-to-back games against top-ranked ranked teams.
After losing to No. 1 Acadiana of Scott in Class 5A, 28-21, East St. John took on No. 1 Bastrop of Class 4A. And for the second time in two weeks, the top-ranked team battled back to defeat East St. John. This time it was even closer, with the Wildcats falling short, 22-18.
East St. John, of Class 5A, actually held a 12-0 halftime lead and threatened to become the first team to beat Bastrop on the field since Lafayette Northside in the quarterfinals of the 2004 state playoffs.
But Bastrop was quick to retaliate, with Rueben Randle running the second-half kickoff back to the East St. John 25-yard line. Dwight Hawkins scored several plays later, and although Randle’s two-point conversion run failed, the Rams were clearly on their way back.
They took their first lead later in the third quarter on Randle’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Rodney Heard, followed by a two-point conversion at 5:53. Bastrop had kept the drive alive with a fourth-down conversion.
East St. John answered with Kaylyn Henderson’s go-ahead, 5-yard touchdown run for an 18-14 advantage, but Bastrop was not to be denied. Bastrop responded with Randle’s 68-yard pass to Heard that carried it down to the East St. John 12-yard line.
Hawkins scored two plays later on an 8-yard run with about eight minutes to play. On the two-point conversion attempt, Randle lined up at wide receiver, where he played last year before moving to quarterback this season.
Randle looked comfortable in his old spot as he hauled in the two-point conversion pass from Darren Anderson to continue East St. John’s string of hard luck.
Dave Moormann covers Louisiana for MaxPreps. He may be reached at moormann54@aol.com.
