St. Thomas More football defeats third ranked team in a row

St. Thomas More (Lafayette) made its third consecutive victory over a ranked opponent the most emphatic of all, as it routed Class 5A's second-ranked Acadiana (Lafayette), 42-17.

The sixth-ranked Cougars of Class 5A grabbed a 14-10 halftime lead and then scored on their first two possessions of the third quarter. Strong safety Sammy Scofield, who committed to Tulane earlier in the week, keyed an aggressive defense with a fumble recovery and a game-ending interception.

The Cougars' non-conference victory, which hiked their record to 5-0, followed wins over Catholic (Baton Rouge), then ranked third in Class 5A, and Evangel Christian Academy (Shreveport), which had been first in Class 2A. Acadiana fell to 4-1.

"We've made a statement for the third time now," Scofield said, "so I think we deserve a little hype."

St. Thomas More quarterback Brandon Bergeron threw two first-half touchdown passes to tight end Evan Tatford. The second score covered 6 yards and capped an 80-yard drive 32 seconds before halftime.

"STM scoring right before halftime really turned the momentum," Acadiana coach Ted Davidson said. "Then, they score early in the third quarter. That's a lot of scoring during a five-minute period."

Running back Micah Eugene provided the bulk of Acadiana's offense with 223 yards rushing and two touchdowns. The Rams finished with 312 yards rushing.

Mistakes can’t stop West Monroe
If top-ranked West Monroe of Class 5A hadn't committed five turnovers, just imagine how thoroughly the Rebels would have won at Captain Shreve (Shreveport). As it was, West Monroe rolled to a 33-13 victory with senior running back Tyler Cain rushing 19 times for 267 yards and two touchdowns.

Cain scored on runs of 33 and 53 yards before leaving with an injury on his 50-yard run early in the fourth quarter.

"We couldn't tackle No. 15 (Cain)," Captain Shreve coach Richard Lary said.

Cain's performance helped the Rebels weather three lost fumbles and two interceptions. Captain Shreve’s Wade Hall returned his fumble recovery for a 73-yard touchdown. Hall also intercepted a pass.

Panthers win Squirrel Bowl
Buckeye celebrated the approach of squirrel season with a 44-20 victory over winless Vidalia in what was billed as the Squirrel Bowl with a stuffed squirrel atop a log as the spoils of victory. Students at Buckeye Junior, Middle and Senior High Schools were allowed an excused absence the day after the game in anticipation of the start of squirrel season the following day.

Colton King sparked the Panthers' victory with a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and two touchdown runs among his 120 yards rushing. Quarterback Brett Duplissey completed 3 of 4 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 26 more.

Jamale Davis scored all three of Vidalia's touchdowns, including one on a 65-yard interception return. Davis rushed for 138 yards, including a 59-yard touchdown.

LHSAA hands out suspensions
A combined 24 football players from Capitol (Baton Rouge) and McKinley (Baton Rouge) received suspensions from the Louisiana High School Athletic Association sportsmanship committee for their involvement in an altercation after McKinley defeated Capitol, 34-30, on Sept. 17.

Both schools were fined $1,000, placed on different types of one-year probations and ordered to split the cost of the hearing held at the LHSAA office in Baton Rouge. Capitol was placed on disciplinary probation in all sports until Sept. 17, 2011. McKinley was placed on disciplinary probation in football until that same date.

Neither head coach was suspended, but Capitol's Chadwick Germany and McKinley's Robert Signater must attend an LHSAA handbook certification class on Nov. 18.

One Capitol player received a two-game suspension, while the other 23 in question were given one-game suspensions. The LHSAA's three-person sportsmanship committee deliberated two hours before announcing its verdict.

Capitol committed its second infraction in six months. The Lions also were sanctioned after their boys and girls track and field teams were involved in a fracas at a meet in Franklin last March.

Cross country: Catholic, St. Joseph’s win
In what may well have been a prelude to next month's state cross country meet, the Catholic (Baton Rouge) boys and host St. Joseph's Academy (Baton Rouge) girls claimed team titles in the prestigious St. Joseph's Academy Invitational at Highland Road Park in Baton Rouge.

Neither team champion could produce the individual winner, though. Those honors went to Matthew Rice of Runnels (Baton Rouge) in the 3-mile boys competition, and Anna Katherine Devitt of Christian Life (Baton Rouge) in the girls race.

Rice won with a personal-best time of 15 minutes, 18 seconds in pulling away from second-place Cole Stafford of Catholic, who finished 10 seconds behind Rice. Devitt was chased to the end by seventh grader Gabrielle Jennings of First Baptist (Slidell) and Abby Ter Haar of Episcopal (Baton Rouge). Devitt edged Jennings by 2 seconds and Ter Haar by 6 seconds.

"I hadn't run against Gabrielle before. She's phenomenal," Devitt said. "The race started off with the people I knew who would be with me, and then after a while it was me, Abby and Gabrielle. I was just trying to stay with them, especially in the second mile. I never felt like I had the race won. I had to win it at the end."

St. Joseph's Academy placed five runners in the top 15 to take a 53-point victory over second-place Mount Carmel Academy (New Orleans). Episcopal (Baton Rouge) fell 15 points short of Catholic in taking second place in the boys race.