Patrick Taylor stages stirring rally to overcome Sophie B. Wright

Beating a team twice in a season is always tough. That is particularly true when facing a district rival.

That was the task for 13th-seeded Patrick Taylor Friday night at Hoss Memtsas Stadium.

The Tigers overcame a 20-point halftime deficit to defeat 9-3A rival Sophie B. Wright 52-42 in the opening round of the Select Division III playoffs.

Patrick Taylor defeated Sophie B. Wright 34-20 on Oct. 12.

Perhaps more significantly, it was the first playoff win in the young program’s history, in just its second varsity season of football.

That is not too shabby for a school ranked No. 1 academically among public schools in Louisiana, certainly not recognized for its athletic exploits, at least not yet. Perhaps that will soon change.

Down 42-22 at halftime, the Tigers defense awakened and shut out the Warriors (5-6) in the second half while the Patrick Taylor offense erupted for 30 points to secure the victory.

“It was truly awesome,” Patrick Taylor coach Kenny Bourgeois said. “To see where it all come to fruition, to have nine wins and to have a first playoff win is outstanding. It was great to host a game and to overcome adversity to win the game. It was a truly awesome night for the kids.”

Trailing 42-38, the Tigers took their first lead with just 1:38 to play in the game when Ethan Tran connected with Kincaid Hinyup on a 6-yard touchdown pass and the 2-point conversion was good to give the Tigers a 46-42 lead.

Hinyup then capped the victory, interception a Paul Chester pass and he returned it 60 yards for a touchdown to put the game away.

Hinyup had quite a game with the pick-six, a fumble recovery, the touchdown reception and seven tackles, including one for loss.

Tran rushed 25 times for 150 yards and two touchdowns and completed 6-of-8 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown.

“Hinyup and Tran took the game over,” Bourgeois said. “Ethan had perhaps his best game for us. It was a gusty performance by him. He stayed calm on the sideline and kept his teammates up, not panicking.

“Hinyup has been great for us all year. He got the big fumble recovery and he caught the touchdown pass and sealed it with the pick-six. He made his biggest plays when we needed them most. I cannot say enough about those two guys.”

Patrick Taylor (9-2) advances to the regional round to take on perennial power and No. 4 seed University Lab in the regional round on the campus of LSU next Friday night.

“We’re going to attack the week,” Bourgeois said. “We know the task we have. University Lab is a great program. We have to try to go there and shock people.”