No. 5 Green Devils' rally falls short to Zachary

PLAQUEMINE - Plaquemine Senior High School fell into an early 14-point hole less than six minutes into the contest and despite rallying to tie the ball game, ultimately fell 34-21 in a hard-fought non-district battle with Zachary on Friday night at Andrew Canova Green Devil Stadium.

The Green Devils (4-2), ranked No. 5 in the Louisiana Sportswriter's Association Class 4A poll, were outgained in total yardage 309-268 by the 5A Broncos (4-2) despite rushing for 228 yards. The loss snapped Plaquemine's four-game winning streak.

"We just got off to such a bad start," Plaquemine coach Paul Distefano said.

Plaquemine senior fullback Julius Maracalin led the comeback with 163 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 30 tough carries.

Green Devil quarterback D'Morea Wicks added 59 yards and one touchdown on the ground on 13 attempts but completed only 3-of-18 passes for 40 yards.

Brian Jordan had an interception and Justin Stewart and Trevor Jones each had one sack and combined for another. Damion Oubre and Jaron Hooks had tackles for loss and Orlando "O.J." Batiste deflected a pass.

"They are an awesome football team and this is a huge win for us," Zachary coach Neil Weiner said.

Bronco quarterback Lindsey Scott completed 11-of-19 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns. Terry Sullivan carried 10 times for 76 yards and two touchdowns.

Bryson Dunn had three receptions including two for touchdowns for 67 yards and Kentrell Fisher added a touchdown catch. Avery Neal had two sacks.

Sullivan's 18-yard run put Zachary on the board just two minutes into the contest following Scott's 39-yard completion to D.Q. Henry but Khalil Harris and Malik Collins held on the conversion run to leave the score 6-0.

Sullivan's second touchdown came from 10 yards after the Broncos used a short field following Neal's 10-yard sack that forced the Green Devils to punt from their own end zone on their opening possession. Scott connected with Chris Carrier on the conversion to make it 14-0 with 6:36 still remaining in the first quarter.

Neal's second sack forced another Green Devil three-and-out but Plaquemine held. Jones and Stewart sacked Scott for losses of 8 and 9 yards on consecutive plays on the Broncos' next possession but Plaquemine's offense still sputtered before Maracalin's drop kick rolled to the Zachary 10.

Wicks stretched the ball across the plane from 3-yards to cap the Green Devils' next 12-play, 65-yard drive after consecutive tackles for loss by Oubre and Hooks on the previous possession. Maracalin's 21-yard jaunt pushed the ball across midfield and Austin LeJeune's point after touchdown kick cut the deficit to 14-7 with 45 seconds remaining in the half.

However, Zachary answered when Scott found Dunn for a 20-yard touchdown in the end zone on the final play of the half after Jones and Stewart sacked him for a 9-yard loss.

Maracalin's 3-yard run capped the Green Devils' opening 12-play, 78 yard drive in the second half after his 26-yard burst opened the series. LeJeune's kick cut it to 21-14 with 7:06 left to play in the third quarter.

Jordan returned an interception tipped by Batiste 20 yards to the Bronco 30 on the next possession and Maracalin spun and leapt into the end zone from 3 yards to knot it up with 3:01 left in the quarter.

But, Zachary answered on Scott's touchdown passes to Fisher and Dunn from 5 and 9 yards out, the later tipped to himself. The Green Devils' possession in between began at the Bronco 32 following Austin Mitchell's 60-yard kickoff return but Plaquemine couldn't capitalize.

Plaquemine hosts Belaire to open District 6-4A play on Friday night.