Notre Dame edges St. Louis for 19th consecutive victory

Defending Class 3A state champion Notre Dame (Crowley) won its 19th consecutive game in defeating 10th-ranked St. Louis (Lake Charles) of Class 4A, 17-14.

The top-ranked Pioneers haven't lost since dropping the 2008 state championship game to Lutcher, 17-0. Notre Dame improved to 4-0 this season after St. Louis missed a 33-yard field attempt with 1:41 left that could have sent the game into overtime.

Notre Dame scored only three second-half points on Zac D'aquin's 27-yard field goal in the third quarter. That followed Luke Bourgeois' 54-yard punt return.

"I knew this game was going to be real tough," Notre Dame coach Lewis Cook said. "A win, and a game like this, helps us tremendously down the line to play a quality team like St. Louis."

Notre Dame led 14-7 at halftime after quarterback Waylon Young threw a 60-yard, flea-flicker touchdown pass to D’Aquin at wide receiver, and Stu Cook scored on a 27-yard run from a draw play.

Young finished with 142 passing yards, while D’Aquin caught four passes for 117 yards.

ST. THOMAS MORE EDGES EVANGEL
Top-ranked Evangel Christian Academy (Shreveport) of Class 2A stepped up in class, too, but it couldn’t quite get the best of Class 5A’s St. Thomas More (Lafayette).

The sixth-ranked Cougars survived, 20-19, when Evangel's Gerald Shouse missed a 49-yard field goal with 5.3 seconds left after having missed two fourth-quarter extra-point tries.

"We've missed extra points every week now," Evangel coach Phillip Deas said. "Gerald is a great kid and a great kicker, but he had a bad night….But he's not the only one who had a bad night."

Visiting St. Thomas More improved to 4-0, while Evangel fell to 1-2.

St. Thomas More had scoring plays of 70 and 44 yards, with running back Joe LaPrairie giving the Cougars their longest score, in addition Don Oliver’s 41-yard field goal helped St. Thomas More to a 20-7 third-quarter lead. The Cougars also had an interception in each half to keep Evangel at bay.

Evangel’s fourth-quarter touchdowns came on Dionte McDuffy's 1-yard run and quarterback David Dee Duron's 67-yard pass to Trent Taylor with 4:36 left. Duron finished with 280 yards passing.

HILL CONTINUES TO ROLL
If it's getting all too much reading about Jeremy Hill's weekly exploits, imagine how his beleaguered opponents feel.

The Redemptorist (Baton Rouge) senior running back made White Castle his latest victim in scoring five touchdowns in the Wolves' 40-14 victory. Hill, an LSU commitment, scored on a pair of 7-yard runs, two 11-yard runs and an 81-yard punt return. He finished with 31 carries for 184 yards to give him 916 yards rushing in four games. Hill also caught two passes for 39 yards against White Castle.

Second-ranked Redemptorist of Class 3A improved to 4-0, while unranked White Castle of Class 1A fell to 1-3.
White Castle held its own early with Tyree Bracken returning the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. Bracken finished with 12 carries for 80 yards.

White Castle recovered an onside kick to begin the second half, which led to quarterback Ronald Martin's 3-yard touchdown run that reduced Redemptorist's lead to 21-14. Martin finished with 50 yards rushing.

"We had nothing to lose, man," White Castle coach Ferrante Dominique said. "A game like this, all you can do is get better."

Hill is doing the same, as he anticipates going over the 1,000-yard rushing mark this week.

"I just want to help my offense as much as I can," Hill said. "We'll worry about stats after the season."

TWO VANDEBILT CATHOLIC PLAYERS DIE
Starting senior quarterback T.J. Cantrelle and sophomore defensive back Ian Haydel were among four Vandebilt Catholic (Houma) students killed in the wreck of a pickup truck Cantrelle was driving.

The one-vehicle accident occurred on La. 182 in Bayou Blue and appeared to have gone undetected for about 10 hours. The 2008 Ford King Ranch finally was discovered submerged and upside down in a canal about 1:45 p.m. Sunday after having run off the road and crashing through a guardrail.

That ended an hours-long, multi-parish search that began when the foursome failed to return home from the LSU-West Virginia football game they attended in Baton Rouge the night before.

According to a Houma Courier report, Cantrelle sent a text message about 1 a.m. Sunday alerting others that the teenagers were close to home. When they didn’t arrive two hours later, their parents began searching for them.
Found inside the vehicle along with Cantrelle, 17, and Haydel, 15, were the bodies of Megan Hitt and Gabrielle Hebert, both 17. Although an official cause of death wasn’t immediately released, members of Cantrelle's family said Cantrelle appeared to have fallen asleep at the wheel, the Courier reported.

Cantrelle’s death came slightly more than a day after he passed for 113 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown, in Vandebilt Catholic’s 34-12 victory over South Lafourche (Galliano).

Haydel had distinguished himself in a 41-16 victory over Assumption (Napoleonville) on Sept. 17 when he returned a recovered fumble for a 98-yard touchdown.

The Terriers, 3-1, currently are tied for 10th in the latest Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class 4A Top 10.

ROBINSON VISITS LSU
Highly touted Thibodaux offensive tackle Greg Robinson hasn't decided on a college yet, but he may be getting closer to a decision. Robinson joined other recruits in visiting LSU last Saturday and watching the Tigers' 20-14 victory over West Virginia.

The trip came a week after the 6-foot-5, 295-pound Robinson was on Auburn's campus and saw those Tigers beat Clemson in overtime, 27-24.

"He likes Auburn, and he likes LSU," said Thibodaux coach Dennis Lorio, a former LSU graduate assistant coach. "He has a big decision to make."