Catholic starts fast, outscores Acadiana in action-packed state final

NEW ORLEANS – The Baton Rouge-Catholic Bears only took two offensive plays to score their first touchdown of the night and they kept the pressure on throughout as they topped the Acadiana Wreckin’ Rams 55-31 to win the Division I select state championship.

Fireworks started early for the Bears. After a 57-yard kickoff return brought the ball to the Acadiana 34-yard line, the Bears scored in two plays when Barry Remo scampered up the middle for a 16-yard touchdown.

The Wreckin’ Rams tried to keep pace early as they scored on their first two drives. A promising opening drive stalled out to a 29-yard field goal in part due to three pre-snap penalties. After Catholic (12-2) scored a touchdown, Acadiana responded with a touchdown run by Ezekiel Hypolite from five yards out.

Acadiana (11-3) was only trailing 13-10 entering the second quarter but the Bears separated on the strength of a pair of passing touchdowns from Daniel Beale. Two unanswered touchdowns ballooned the Bears’ advantage to 27-10 when they reached the halftime break.

The Wreckin’ Rams came out of the break and got a much-needed touchdown but they needed most of the third quarter to do it. A 19-play, 78-yard drive culminated with a 3-yard touchdown run by Caden Dibetta but over nine minutes came off the clock in the process.

“Hats off to our offensive staff for putting in the work and instilling a great game plan,” said Catholic Head Coach Hudson Fuller. “We put together a game plan we felt really good about. It came down to their execution and these are special players. I have a lot of confidence in them because of the growth they had throughout the year and they showed it tonight.”

Acadiana tried an onside kick but it was unsuccessful and the Bears took over at the Acadiana 49. The Bears promptly took the short field and turned it into seven points after Remo scored on a 16-yard run to push the Bears’ lead back to 17.

“We knew we wanted to be here and we could be here so we put our mind to it and stuck together,” said Beale.” I’m thankful for the team, the coaches and everybody for their support.”

From there, the Bears’ offense continued to produce big plays both in the air and on the ground. On the night, the Catholic offense had 10 plays of 20 or more yards (seven passing, three rushing).

Fuller, who was announced as the new head coach of the program last December, weathered a difficult first month of results but his squad ended the year on a 10-game winning streak. The 55 points also tied the team’s highest point total in a game this season.

Beale closed his high school career with a fantastic stat line and the Most Outstanding Player award. The senior quarterback was 19-of-26 for 360 yards and four touchdowns. He also added a rushing touchdown to his stat line.

Remo carried the ball 18 times for 121 yards and three scores. Cohen LeBlanc was the Bears’ leading receiver on the night with seven catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns.

Jonah Gauthier was Acadiana’s Most Outstanding Player after he rushed for 196 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. The Wreckin’ Rams had 419 rushing yards on 58 carries.

“I thought our guys played hard,” said Acadiana Head Coach Matt McCullough. “Their quarterback made a bunch of really good plays. We just couldn’t cut the lead but I’m proud of our group and I think we improved as the year went on.”

The Bears were also effective on third and fourth downs. They were 6-of-9 in converting third downs and 2-of-3 on fourth down. The Bears finished with 503 yards of total offense.