Week 4 of the high school football season was a mixed bag for Vernon Parish teams. Rosepine found some offense in an 18-6 homecoming win over Vinton. Leesville struggled with defending the pass and battling Mother Nature in a 31-14 loss at Catholic of New Iberia. Pickering got blasted by Welsh 66-0 to fall to 0-4 on the young season.
ROSEPINE
In front of a large, festive homecoming crowd, the Eagles showed signs of life on offense as two running backs went over 100 yards in the 18-6 win over Vinton. Vinton scored first on a 16-yard pass from senior QB Freddy Budwine to freshman Kason Hillery. Rosepine answered with a five-yard TD run from Lane Willis but failed on the two-point try. The Eagles scored again early in the second quarter on a 13-yard run by freshman Devin Janice. Janice hit paydirt again with under six minutes to play in the game on a 20-yard scamper. He finished the night with 103 yards rushing on 13 carries. Lane Willis led the Eagles with 137 yards on 18 carries.
Linebacker Landon Lawrence led the defense with five tackles, including two for lost yards. Gabriel Leslie had a fumble recovery while Austin Lounsberry and Zach Wellmaker had interceptions.
Rosepine improved to 2-2 on the season while Vinton drops to 1-3
Next game is Thursday, September 28, 7 p.m., at DeQuincy (1-3).
PICKERING
The Red Devils got hit hard last week by Welsh 66-0, falling to 0-4 under first-year Head Coach John Dougherty. It is hard to compete week in week out when you can barely field an offense and a defense. Most of the Red Devils go both ways all game! This is a very young team being rebuilt from the ashes. Here’s hoping they stick with it because they will be bigger and stronger in 2024.
Next game for Pickering is Thursday, September 28, on the road at Lake Arthur (2-2). Kickoff is 7 p.m.
LEESVILLE
The Wampus Cats battled the passing attack of the Catholic of New Iberia Panthers, and both teams sat around for over two hours as Mother Nature delayed the game with rain and lightning. The game finished near 1130 p.m. with the Panthers prevailing 31-14.
The Leesville defense allowed two scores in the first half, a 50-yard pass and a 30-yard run. The Panthers penetrated the Leesville red zone four times but only scored twice. It was a defensive stop inside their own two-yard line that led to Leesville’s first score. QB Corbitt Robbins launched a 91-yard catch and run to Boston Manci to make it 14-6 at halftime.
The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter with Catholic scoring on a five-yard run and Leesville a 30-yard pass from Robbins to Isaiah Farley. Catholic put the game away with two TDs in the fourth quarter.
The Leesville defense was led by sophomore Tycarius England, who rang up 12 tackles, and Tim Wise, who had 9 tackles including two for losses.
Leesville’s next game is home Friday, September 29, 7 p.m. against Opelousas (2-2). The game will be broadcast live on 93.5 FM/KJAE and 105.7 FM/KVVP.
Prior to the kickoff of the Opelousas-Leesville game, a special ceremony with a presentation and video is planned to pay tribute to the Vernon High School State Champion Football Teams from 1963, 1967 and 1968. Vernon High merged with Leesville High in 1969. A reception for all players from those teams and their families will be held at Gallery One Ellleven in downtown Leesville from 5-6 p.m.
