Livonia denies White Castle first victory of season
Something had to give for one team when White Castle tangled with Livonia in a battle of winless programs.
At the end of the evening, the hosting Livonia Wildcats emerged victorious with a 42-36 win over the Bulldogs in non-district fare Friday night.
White Castle (0-4) will remain on the road next week when they venture down La. 1 to Port Allen for the final non-district game of the season.
The game marked the first win of the season for Livonia.
The Bulldogs scored a touchdown on their first possession when Hakeem Young connected with Vondez Shaw on a 70-yard pass, which led to a 7-0 lead after the extra-point kick.
A Connor Greavis 39-yard pass to Traylin Whaley put Livonia on the scoreboard on its first possession of the night, but the Bulldogs maintained the lead when they blocked Whaley’s two-point conversion pass.
A 22-yard scamper by senior Damarcus Favorite late in the first quarter and a 37-yard sprint by senior running back Jacob Green in the second quarter put White Castle ahead 20-6 early in the second stanza.
But Greavis fired a 50-yard pass to Whaley and connected with Ga’Marion Hollins on passes of 10 and 36 yards to put Livonia ahead 28-20 at halftime.
A DeMichael Coleman 18-yard run stretched the Livonia lead to 34-20 heading into the final quarter.
The woes continued in the fourth for White Castle when Livonia’s Rico Louis scooped up a fumble for a 61-yard TD return.
WCHS made a solid effort to dig itself out the hole during the fourth quarter off Young’s touchdown runs of 9 and 8 yards, but the Livonia defense staved off the Bulldogs long enough to keep them from the win.
“I’m not taking away from Livonia, but we had a lot of self-inflicted things going on, including a dropped touchdown, the quarterback fumbles,” said White Castle head coach Marc Brown, who coached three seasons at Livonia. “We’ve got to clean ourselves up, and if we do that, we’ll be fine.
“I thought we came out well … we just stalled out and hurt ourselves in spots. We’re doing to be okay.”
THIS WEEK …
White Castle seeks its first win of the season Thursday when the Bulldogs face Port Allen, which improved to 2-2 after a 22-7 win against Wilkinson County in Woodville, Miss. The game pit Port Allen coach Don Gibson against his older brother, former PAHS offensive coordinator Jeffrey Gibson.
Standouts for the Pelicans include senior wide receiver Stephen Springer, senior running back Titus Winfield, senior running back Jordan Antoine, senior quarterback Jeremiah Dehon and senior wide receiver Quin Leonard.
The Pelicans are no strangers to Brown, who coached against PAHS during his years as an assistant coach at Brusly.
“They’ve got some good talent on their roster, but if we correct some mistakes from this game, I think we will be alright,” Brown said.
Kickoff at Guy Otwell Field is 7 p.m. The stadium is located on Rosedale Road (La. 76), was of La. 415.