Cats Lose Wide Open Duel with Woodlawn

CENTRAL — Despite a powerful offense led by junior quarterback Brett Courville, Central High dug itself a hole last Friday against Woodlawn and couldn’t get out.  Woodlawn won 41-27.

Starting five sophomores, Central is young!  Coach Doug Dotson said, “This team has tremendous promise.  They are very talented.  They’re going to get better week after week.  What a fight they put up against Woodlawn!  They never gave up.  When the Panthers went up by three TD’s, Gary Triplet immediately answered with a 98-yard kickoff return.”

Dotson was pleased with quarterback Courville, who amassed 284 yards and was responsible for three touchdowns.  His longest run was 56 yards.

“Give Woodlawn some credit,” Dotson said, “They are an outstanding football team.  I can’t say enough about Jamal Lofton.  He was outstanding for the Panthers.”

“We’ve played St. Thomas More, the No. 1 team in the state, and Woodlawn, which has as much talent as anyone.”

Dotson gave credit to several Central players who performed well.  Zach Hetrick had four tackles behind the line and Tony Ragusa was outstanding.

After watching Gary Triplet set sail for 98 yards, Coach Dotson said, “We’re going to get that young man the ball more.”

Triplet has blazing speed — one of the fastest athletes in the state — and played double duty for the Wildcats.  During the entire 2nd half, he played both offense and defense, something rarely seen in Central — or anywhere in 5A football these days in Louisiana.  His speed was needed to defend against Woodlawn’s receivers.

Devon Gale had a good night for the Wildcats, as did the entire offensive line.  “You don’t rush for over 200 yards without the O-line doing well,” Dotson said.

This Friday, Central plays traditional rival Catholic High at Memorial Stadium, starting at 7 p.m.

It will be an unusual game.  The two squads are normally battling for the District 4-5A championship and enter the game undefeated.  This year, the two schools are in different districts.  Catholic High is 0-3, and Central is 1-2.

“Don’t be deceived,” Dotson said, “Catholic played three outstanding teams — Zachary, Mandeville, and Denham Springs — all of which are undefeated.  It’s a typical Catholic High team.  Not flashy but well-coached and talented.  They play hard.  Be watching their running back Khalil Thomas and their Wildcat package.  They run it much like J. R. Richardson did for us last year.”

Coach Dotson asked Central fans to turn out en masse for the Catholic High game.  “This is one of our most important rivalries.  We need our entire Central community to be there in the stands Friday night.  Catholic will try to black us out.  So I’m asking Wildcat fans to wear white Friday night.”

“I’m asking our fans to have patience with us.  We have fewer than 20 seniors and five sophomores starting on offense.  But they are homegrown and maturing quickly.”