Plaquemine High’s playoff run ends with tough 21-19 loss to Belle Chasse
The Plaquemine High Green Devils’ playoff run was abruptly and unexpectedly halted despite a valiant battle against the Cardinals of Belle Chasse High last Friday night.
The final score, 21-19, hardly reflects the spirited play of the Green Devils, who were trailing by a three-touchdown gap at 21-6 but came roaring back in the second half, holding the Cardinals scoreless while scoring 13 unanswered points themselves.
About halfway through the first quarter, Belle Chasse took an early lead with a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Jordan Mariana, the 6 points turned to 7 after a successful point after touchdown by Tyler Andrews.
With 5:44 left on the clock, the Green Devils answered with a touchdown of their own when Thomas Powers dashed into the end zone from the 1-yard line but a muffed snap prevented the PAT, leaving Plaquemine High trailing by a point.
The second quarter was barren of scoring on the part of the home team Devils, but the Cardinals added two second quarter touchdowns to take a 15 point lead at halftime.
Belle Chasse struck with almost six minutes left in the first half on a touchdown run by Jordan Mariana from 13 yards out, capped with an extra point kick by Andrews.
The Cardinals would score again before halftime with just 40 seconds left on the clock when Mariana threw an 18-yard TD pass to Collin Montgomery and again, Andrews tacked on the PAT.
The Green Devils came out of the locker room for the second half of play fired up and added the only points scored in the third quarter with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Dontayvion Wicks to Wayne Toussant, who has been a star for Plaquemine High all season.
The 2-point conversion after the score was unsuccessful, but the TD closed the Cardinal lead to nine, at 21-12.
Plaquemine High continued its unanswered scoring in the fourth quarter when Toussant dashed into the end zone for a touchdown about 8 minutes left in the game and this time, the snap was good and so was Brayden David’s PAT to take the score to its 21-19 final.
The loss was a disappointing end to what had been an outstanding run by the Green Devils, who finished the 2017 season with an 8-3 final record despite the loss during the season of several of its key players.