BATON ROUGE — Led by a combined 230 yards passing from quarterbacks Ryan Lewis and Seth Babin, the East edged the West, 7-6, in the 65th annual Louisiana High School Coaches Association all-star football game Friday night in front of 4,072 in Tiger Stadium.
The victory on the gridiron gives the East a four-game sweep of the all-star games after victories in the volleyball match on Wednesday and the girls’ and boys’ basketball contests on Thursday, marking the first sweep since the East did so in 1985.
Despite holding an 80-44 edge in total plays and a 312-174 edge in total yardage on the game, the East needed a big break in the fourth quarter to hold on for the win.
The West did not cross into East territory until the fourth quarter, when it put together a 10-play, 87-yard march that culminated in a 44-yard touchdown pass from Nic Cannon of Hahnville to Josh Odums of Mansfield that made it 7-6. However, the West stayed one point behind when Cecilia’s Joel Stelly hooked the point after attempt wide right.
The West held on downs at its own 35 with 1:27 to go, but Cannon was intercepted by LaSalle’s Reese Roark to end the game.
Lewis, a Central graduate and the younger brother of former LSU softball standout Ashley Lewis, completed 19 of 33 passes for 147 yards, while St. Amant’s Babin was 9-of-14 for 83 yards.
The East got its passing offense in gear on as Babin marshaled them downfield on a 12-play, 74-yard drive, rushing for the initial first down of the drive with a 5-yard run and then completed 9-yard passes to Josh Mosby of Redemptorist and Bubba Terranova of Salmen to move to the West 33.
Babin found Neville’s Tim Abney twice on the drive, first for 18 yards to the 17, then in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with five minutes remaining in the opening period.
Abney was named the offensive Most Valuable Player, catching four passes for 55 yards. Gary Duhe of St. Amant, who was also a teammate of Lewis at Central before transferring, led all receivers eight catches for 80 yards.
That score turned out to be the only points of the first half. The East would put together a 14-play drive that ate five minutes in the second quarter, but the march came up empty when a 37-yard field goal attempt by Hammond’s Jim Hall hit the left upright.
With 1:17 to go in the first half, the East had the ball at the West 35 following a short punt and drove to the 8, but Hall shanked a 24-yard field goal attempt with 27 seconds left before halftime.
The East had staggering first-half advantages in first downs (19-2), total plays (52-19) and total yards (232-42). The West would not go further than its own 32-yard line in the opening 24 minutes.
Linebacker Terrance Alexander from Breaux Bridge and strong safety C.J. Grant from Westlake, both of the West, shared defensive MVP honors by recording 13 and 12 tackles, respectively. Brian Henderson of Berwick (11) and Ricaardo Jeanlouis of Loureauville (10) also finished in double figures in tackles for the West, while East Ascension’s Bryan Golden had 11 stops to pace the East.
Cannon, who played the entire game at quarterback for the West, was 10 of 18 for 98 yards.
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Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
—————– — — — — —–
East……………. 7 0 0 0 – 7
West……………. 0 0 0 6 – 6
Scoring Summary:
1st 05:00 EAST – Tim Abney 14 yd pass from Seth Babin (Jim Hall kick); 12 plays, 74 yards, 3:18 TOP
4th 06:11 WEST – Josh Odums 44 yd pass from Nic Cannon (kick failed); 10 plays, 87 yards, 5:01 TOP
TEAM STATISTICS EAST WEST
FIRST DOWNS………………. 28 9
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)………… 33-82 26-76
PASSING YDS (NET)…………. 230 98
Passes Att-Comp-Int……….. 47-28-1 18-10-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS….. 80-312 44-174
Fumble Returns-Yards………. 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards………… 3-9 1-3
Kickoff Returns-Yards……… 1-11 0-0
Interception Returns-Yards…. 1-0 1-0
Punts (Number-Avg)………… 3-39.0 6-40.7
Fumbles-Lost……………… 4-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards…………… 5-39 7-79
Possession Time…………… 29:18 18:42
Third-Down Conversions…….. 5 of 14 3 of 10
Fourth-Down Conversions……. 0 of 2 0 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances……. 1-4 0-0
Sacks By: Number-Yards…….. 1-4 0-0
RUSHING: East-Jeramie O’Neal 11-65; Darren Jarvis 9-32; Seth Babin 6-16; Ryan Lewis 3-2; TEAM 4-minus 33. West-Jason Miller 14-58; Jasper Faulk 8-20; Joel Stelly 1-2; Shane Shelley 1-0; Nic Cannon 2-minus 4.
PASSING: East-Ryan Lewis 19-33-0-147; Seth Babin 9-14-1-83. West-Nic Cannon 10-18-1-98.
RECEIVING: East-Gary Duhe 8-80; Bubba Terranova 6-33; Lawrence Darby 5-26; Tim Abney 4-55; Josh Mosby 2-21; Tyler Wheeler 2-12; Darren Jarvis 1-3. West-Jerry Babb 4-14; Daniel Landry 2-23; Dane Charpentier 2-12; Josh Odums 1-44; Shane Shelley 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS: East-Reece Roark 1-0. West-C.J. Grant 1-0.
FUMBLES: East-TEAM 2-0; Lawrence Darby 1-0; Bubba Terranova 1-0. West-Joel Stelly 1-0.
SACKS (UA-A): East-Marcus Dawson 1-0. West-None.
TACKLES (UA-A): East-Bryan Golden 9-2; Andre Francis 5-2; Jeremiah Abbott 3-4; Marcus Dawson 4-1; Ross Currier 3-2; Nick Goree 3-1; Chance Mistric 2-2; Reece Roark 2-2; Ronnie Wesby 1-2; Tyrin Fultz 2-0; Jeff Lendo 1-1; Derick Minor 0-1; Steven Smith 0-1.
West-Terrance Alexander 6-7; C.J. Grant 8-4; Brian Henderson 7-4; Ricardo Jeanlouis 6-4; Chris Williams 7-2; Stephen Barrett 5-1; Brian Seal 2-4; Ivan Stevenson 4-1; Tyler Hebert 3-2; Kirby Joseph 3-2; Barry Cryer 3-1; Lionel Howard 1-2; Jonathan Aucoin 2-0; Wesley Simon 1-0; Alonzo Manuel 0-1.