Friday Night Lights – Week 7 – Central B.R. host Catholic High B.R.
This district rivalry goes all the way back to the Dale Weiner and Sid Edwards days. It was more than just about a former coach going against his former team.
The Catholic Bears and the Central Wildcats was, in the past, one of the biggest district games for both teams back in the early 2000’s. It pitted many long time friends, that had been played together since little league and pee wee football, against each other at the high school ranks.
Today the rivalry is back, due to the change in the district make up of 4-5A in 2021. The biggest change is also that this is not about a Weiner vs Edwards duel on the football field, but a Simoneaux vs Fuller Battle. David Simoneaux, is the former head coach of the Catholic High Bears and led them to a state championship in 2021. Now two years later is his at the helm in Central. Simoneaux’s coaching friend, Hudson Fuller, is now at the helm at Catholic Baton Rouge. Fuller was previously at West Feliciana. And that is just the beginning of the story line for this epic gridiron battle Friday night…..
What was promised to be a high octane, hard hitting game of the week was as good as advertised. This is how it was won:
Catholic would strike first with 2:13 left in the first quarter with Barry Remo II taking the handoff and find the hole to burst through and head to the endzone. 7-0 Bears.
Catholic on the board first with 2:13 left in the 1st quarter, extra point good 7-0 Bears Barry Remo II pic.twitter.com/gniQgLf7W5
— Recruit Louisiana™️ (@RecruitLouisian) October 14, 2023
With 57 seconds left in the 1st quarter Special Teams would step up for the Wildcats, Tucker Pitre would pick up a fumbled punt and take it to the endzone for a Wildcat Touchdown. The extra point would be no good. Score 7-6 Bears.
Player of the game for Central, Damon Blocker would take the direct snap out of the wildcat and head into the endzone to give Central the lead 12-7 at the 10:54 mark of the second quarter.
Touchdown Wildcats!!
Damon Blocker takes the direct snap and heads to the end zone 2pt conversion no good 12-7 Central 10:54 left in first half pic.twitter.com/1wrzjZ0Adu— Recruit Louisiana™️ (@RecruitLouisian) October 14, 2023
Catholic would then find the endzone at the 5:50 mark in the 2nd quarter on a Daniel Beale pass to Brooks Wright. Wright would show his athletic moves and reversing field to take it down the far sideline for a Catholic touchdown to bring the score to 14-12 Bears.
Central would jump right back on top with 1:57 left in the first half when Damon Blocker would take the ball and scamper into the endzone bringing the score to 18-14 Wildcats.
Halftime Score would see Central leading Catholic of B.R. 18-14.
Offensive fireworks were flying during the second half of the game, as both quarterbacks showed their strong arms and accruancy to find open receivers. Junior quarterback, Jackson Firmin would find James Hussey on a slant pattern at the 3:55 mark of the 3rd quarter to extend Central’s lead to 24-14.
Central extends their lead with 3:55 left in the third. Firmin to Hussey 24-14 pending extra point pic.twitter.com/o3YUbRO70l
— Recruit Louisiana™️ (@RecruitLouisian) October 14, 2023
With 3.14 left in the third quarter the Bears would find themselves in the red zone again. Daniel Beale would find Brooks Wright streaking down the sideline for a 50 yard pass and catch to set up. This would lead to Beale rolling left and find Wright in the back corner of the endzone with 58 seconds left in the third quarter, 24-20 Central.
The start of the fourth quarter would see Central with a slim lead, 24-20. Both defenses would continue to battle while both offenses mixed things up to try to gain precious first down, to move the ball down the field. With 8:08 left in the game, Central would opt to not take a holding penalty and push the Bears back to a 3rd and 16. This would force the Bears to a 4th and goal at the 6 yard line. Catholic was going for it. Beale rolled right and then passed back left to a wide open Bradley Wright who trotted into the endzone. Adding a 2 point conversion try, that was good, put the Bears back in the lead 28-24. The Wright Brothers definitely left their mark on the game Friday night as a dynamic brother duo.
Barry Remo II continued to put on a show at running back for the Bears. His physical running style and burst of speed, made him hard to bring down on contact. With 6:11 left in the game, Central looked to have Remo stopped short of the first down but he somehow got away from defenders and bolted down the right sideline to take it to the endzone, bringing the score to 35-24 Bears.
And somehow Barry Remo II gets loose on the right side and bolts down the field and into the endzone Bears add to their lead 35-24 6:11 left in the game. pic.twitter.com/oV34VMsbu3
— Recruit Louisiana™️ (@RecruitLouisian) October 14, 2023
Central Defense would continue to pressure the Bears and with 2:58 left in the game they would bring the score to within 3 points, when Jackson Firmin would find junior wide receiver Brody Kernan for a touchdown. They would then go for 2 and find the edge of the endzone to bring the score to 32-35 Bears.
However, Barry Remo II had other ideas. Remo found the edge of the sideline and scampered 63 yards for a touchdown to put the Bears but up 10, 32-42, Catholic.
Central was not done either, as they continued to fight. Firmin found his tight end Adyn Wilkinson in the back of the endzone with 13 second left in the game to bring the school to 38-42. Central would attempt an onside kick but Catholic would recover and take a knee to end the game and take home the win.
Player Of The Game For Catholic: What A Night For Catholic High B.R. 2024 RB Barry Remo II – Central just couldn’t find an answer for his tough running style and his speed. He was “A Man On A Mission” 20 Carries for 240 Yards 3 TD’s (Longest run was for 63 yards that led to Catholic’s final touchdown that put the game out of reach and Catholic would take home the Win.)
What A Night For Catholic High B.R. 2024 RB Barry Remo II – Central just couldn’t find an answer for his tough running style and his speed. He was “A Man On A Mission”
20 Carries for 240 Yards 3 TD’s (Longest run was for 63 yards that led to Catholic’s final touchdown that put… pic.twitter.com/E0SSyT1GHq— Recruit Louisiana™️ (@RecruitLouisian) October 14, 2023
Player Of The Game For Central B.R.: 2024 ATH Damon Blocker Central High B.R. 21 Carries, 138 Yards and 2 TD’s on the night.
2024 ATH Damon Blocker Central High B.R.
21 Carries, 138 Yards and 2 TD’s on the night pic.twitter.com/iAwAjzBcrv— Recruit Louisiana™️ (@RecruitLouisian) October 14, 2023
Final Stats Courtesy of Catholic High Bears and CHS Radio:
Bears win! Bears win! Final stats attached. @WBRZSports @WAFB9Sports @chessabouche @theadvocatebr pic.twitter.com/Hy85H2rGnU
— CHSRadioBear (@CHSRadioBear) October 14, 2023
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