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The Vermilion Catholic Lady Eagles traveled across town and swept the Abbeville Lady Wildcats on Thursday, 25-16, 25-19, 25-16.
While VC got the win, Abbeville kept it interesting in all three sets. Lady Eagles head coach Kristin Son acknowledged the Lady Cats improvement. She felt that caught her team off guard.
“They were really scrappy,” Son said. “They were much better than last time we played. That threw us off in the beginning. We need to be able to play good, clean vo
Abbeville (4-11) competed despite being shorthanded. Lady Cats’ head coach Madison Trahan was proud of team for rallying together.
“We were missing two key players, but we played together,” Trahan said. “Everyone had a good attitude, and no one got in their feelings. It was very much a well-played, smooth game.”
The Lady Eagles (10-10) trailed 5-11 early in the first set before coming back to tie the score at 16. From there, VC closed to set on a 9-0 run to take a 1-0 match-lead.
The two teams battled to a 6-6 draw in the second set before VC went on a 7-1 run to claim a 13-7 lead. They stretched it to as many as seven before the Lady Cats battled back, getting as close as 18-15 before VC won the set by six for a 2-0 match-lead.
In the final set, the Lady Eagles held a 13-10 lead before going on a 7-0 run to double-up Abbeville 20-10. The Lady Cats outscored VC 6-5 down the stretch but could not extend the match.
Abbeville played Rayne in a district contest on Tuesday after The Meridional went to press. Trahan said she’s sticking to what works for that contest and beyond.
“Tonight made me think a lot about my rotations,” Trahan said. “A lot of young kids got an opportunity to play and they came through. Moving forward, I think we’re going to see more of what we saw tonight.”
VC started district Tuesday on the road at Highland Baptist. They return home Wednesday for a matchup against the Episcopal School of Acadiana Lady Falcons.

KAPLAN - The Kaplan Pirates won their homecoming game in shootout-fashion, 51-42, over the Patterson Lumberjacks Friday night at Ed Douglas Memorial Stadium.
De’Maurion Cormier carried the load for the Pirates’ rushing attack. The junior running back ran over and around Lumberjack defenders on his way to 327 yards and five touchdowns.
“Last game I got injured, so this game the beast came out of me,” Cormier said.
He was also a force on defense for the Pirates, ending the game with a quarterback sack.
“I had to trick them,” Cormier continued. “I acted like I was going through the B-gap. I did my little move, went through the C-gap, and got to the quarterback.”
Kaplan (4-2) jumped out to a 10-0 lead early in the first quarter. Gannon Smith booted a 24-yard field goal to cap their first possession and Cormier broke loose from 40 yards away for his first touchdown on their second.
Patterson (0-6) answered when quarterback Hayven Keller connected with Jamall Pollard from 37 yards out. The extra point made the score 10-7 after one quarter of play.
Cormier scored the only touchdown of the second quarter when he broke the plane on a five-yard run with 4:07 on the clock. Smith’s extra point made the score 17-7 at the break.
Pirates’ head coach John Thompson was proud of the effort of his defense in the first half.
“We had them bottled up,” Thompson said. “We had them taken care of in the first half. The second half was a different story.”
Early in the third quarter, it looked like Kaplan was going to run away from the Lumberjacks. Cormier scored his third touchdown from 20 yards out only 10 seconds into the quarter. Then Kaplan quarterback Sabe David dropped a dime into receiver Owen Marceaux’s breadbasket for a 69-yard touchdown pass. Smith made both extra points to give Kaplan a commanding 31-7 lead with 6:34 left in the third.
Patterson answered only 12 seconds later when Pollard picked up a squib-kick and outran the Pirates’ defense for an 80-yard kickoff return touchdown. The extra point made it 31-14 with 6:22 remaining.
Cormier scored his fourth touchdown on Kaplan’s next possession. On first down from the Patterson 32-yard-line, Cormier took the handoff going left, squirted through the hole, and then raced to the end zone. Patterson blocked the extra point to keep the lead at 37-14 with 4:19 left in the quarter.
The Lumberjacks scored again when Keller threw a 49-yard bomb to Gregory Johnson for the touchdown. Johnson finished the game with 11 receptions for 202 yards and a score. The extra point made it 37-21 at the end of three.
The Pirates started the scoring in the fourth quarter when David hit Jeremy Roy for a six-yard touchdown pass. Smith added the extra point for a 44-21 Kaplan-lead with 11:19 left in the game.
Keller answered the Kaplan score with another 49-yard bomb. This time he connected with Jaylen McDaniel for the touchdown. The extra point made the score 44-28 with 9:23 left.
On the ensuing kickoff, Patterson recovered the onside kick at the Kaplan 32-yard-line. On the following play, Keller found McDaniel again for the 32-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion failed to keep it 44-34 with 9:16 left.
Kaplan took over on its own 32 and methodically marched downfield, eating 3:27 off the clock. Cormier scored his fifth and final touchdown of the game from 18 yards out with 5:49 left on the clock. Smith tacked on the extra point to make it 51-34.
Patterson added one more scored when Keller hit Pollard with a 56-yard bomb. They also added the two-point conversion to provide the final margin. Keller finished 21-of-32 for 420 yards and five touchdowns.
“They kept beating us deep,” Thompson continued. “They threw the ball up there and their athletes went and got it. They made six plays the whole game. Other than that, we dominated. They couldn’t run the ball on us at all. We won the game and I’m proud of our boys for that.”
Van Guidry joined Cormier in triple digits rushing with 110 yards on 20 carries. Roy added 36 yards on six carries. David finished five-of-nine for 97 yards and two touchdowns through the air. Marceaux finished with 69 yards and a score on one reception while Roy had three catches for 14 yards and a touchdown. Taven Townsend also had one catch for 14 yards.
The Pirates hit the road next Thursday as they travel to Baton Rouge to tangle with Southern Lab (3-3). The Kittens lost 32-14 to Madison Prep in week six. Last season, Kaplan defeated Southern Lab 40-20 at home.
Thompson believes his team must be focused to get win number six.
“Everybody has no choice but to lock in,” Thompson said. “We need to come in with a sense of urgency. This is not a road trip to have fun. It’s a business trip to win a football game. If we get that, we’ll beat them.”

After a 63-0 homecoming district victory over Highland Baptists this past Friday, the Vermilion Catholic Eagles (2-4) are on the road for a big district rival game this Friday.
The Eagles travel to Youngsville to play the 6-0 Blue Gators in a district contest.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m,
The two teams have faced each other only five times in the past 10 years. The Blue Gators have been in VC’s district for the last two years. Last year, the Eagles defeated Ascension 49-27 in their first meeting in the district.
VC’s four other meetings with Ascension were non-district games.  
VC owns a 3-2 overall record against Ascension, with  VC winning the last three games.
On Friday, the Blue Gators have a chance to be the Vermilion Parish Champion with a win over VC.
Ascension has already beaten four parish teams.
Ascension is coming off a 48-6 win over Gueydan this past Friday.  They have also beaten Abbeville (39-34), North Vermilion (28-3) and Kaplan (41-7).

VC.............63
Highland...0

The very first play of the game set the tone for the next four quarters for Vermilion Catholic.
VC’s quarterback Will Simon threw to an open Matthew Mollere for a 45-yard touchdown pass.   Henry Bertrand kicked the first of his nine point-after attempts to put the Eagles ahead 7-0, and the rout was on.
Caleb Guidry scored the second touchdown of the game on a two-yard run. He finished the game with three carries for 23 yards and a touchdown.
The VC defense came up big, scoring twice on interceptions returned for touchdowns.
Trevin Hebert returned an interception for a 27-yard touchdown.  VC’s Ty LeBlanc also returned an interception for a 30-yard touchdown.
 Brantley Beckett had nine carries for 52 yards, and he scored two TDs. 
Quarterback Will Simon completed 10 out of 12 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown.
With two catches for VC were Michael Moller (2-68-1), Jacob Dubois (2-50), Matthew Mollere (2-45), and Ty LeBlanc (2-19).

Roland LeBlanc enjoys challenging himself. Whether it’s improving his time in a 1,600-meter race, working to strengthen his cross-country team, or attempting to dunk a basketball despite being 41 years old and only 5 feet 7 inches tall, he is always pushing his limits.
Whatever challenges he sets his eye on, he eventually gets to them.
LeBlanc, a 2002 Abbeville High graduate, was honored Thursday night by being inducted into the Abbeville High Athletic Hall of Fame. Also, Harris LeMaire was inducted, who was involved with Abbeville athletics for 40 years.
LeBlanc was one of the most decorated long-distance runners at Abbeville High.  He won multiple cross-country races throughout the state and finished in the top five at the state meet, earning him all-state honors.
He competed at the state outdoor meets in the 1600 and 3200 meter races. LeBlanc went on to race cross country at LSU.
LeBlanc decided to take up running because he was too small for football and basketball. As a freshman, he was only 5-7 and weighed less than 140 pounds. One person who was glad he chose to be a cross-country runner was his new cross-country coach, Jed Bourque.  Bourque was a rookie coach when LeBlanc was a freshman.
Bourque spoke about LeBlanc at the Hall of Fame banquet.
“When I recently visited with one of his teammates, who was his older sister, Ann, she told me, ‘As a freshman, we knew he was gonna be good. He was fast and he was passionate.’”
Bourque expressed his excitement in coaching LeBlanc and witnessing him achieve his set goals.
“I considered myself privileged to watch him,” Bourque said. “He had a graceful stride and perfect form and endless stamina, relentless competitor, mental strength to fight through pain, knowing that every race he competed, he had the bulls eye on his back...Everyone wanted to beat Roland LeBlanc, but not many could.”
LeBlanc ran because he wanted to be the best at running, he told the crowd at Magdalen Place on Thursday.
“Why did I do what I did?” asked LeBlanc. “I wanted to do something well. I knew it took effort, commitment, and passion to achieve that. Beyond what I accomplished in high school and college, I apply those same principles to everything else in life.”
Today, LeBlanc, 41, lives in New Orleans and runs a thrift shop. His family and friends attended his induction ceremony, expressing their gratitude for his support and presence in their lives.
So, what is LeBlanc’s latest challenge in his young life? It’s not running a marathon or competing in an Iron Man competition. 
Instead, LeBlanc is training to dunk a basketball on a 10-foot hoop. He mentioned that he has improved his vertical leap by 10 inches over the last two years and is now just one inch away from being able to soar above the rim.
Few doubt that he will accomplish this challenge in the next two years.

Harris LeMaire had a passion for Abbeville High

LeMaire has been involved with Abbeville High athletics for more than 45 years. 
With Harris’s giving nature and commitment, his heart was deeply invested in Abbeville High School, which he supported through the Quarterback Club, which is now the Abbeville High Booster Club.  
In 1990, as president of the AHS booster club, he would breathe new life into the program, which Don Chauvin described as “in deep trouble,” “saddled with over $10,000 of debt and unable to buy victory on credit.”  
Harris led the initiative that brought the AHS Booster Club to the Abbeville Bingo League, starting with one night a week specifically dedicated to the athletic club, which grew to four separate sessions dedicated to AHS Athletics.  
During the first year of bingo, the boosters netted over $11,000, which was used to wipe out the debt they inherited.  From 1990 to 2016, the ABL Booster Bingo raised well over $200,000. 
 These funds raised went directly to benefit things such as uniforms, a minivan for the cheerleaders to travel to games, transportation for teams from game to game, the building which is now the weight room, the two extra lanes on the track, the football field sprinkler system, coaches stipends – which was allowed back in the day, and the list goes on.  
Thanks to Harris, bingo continued to support AHS Athletics until 2016.  Harris would also step in for the voice of the Wildcats, Russell Gary, when needed.  His commitment to AHS continued as an active member of the Booster Club until 2005.
While Harris made a meaningful impact on the community, it would be unfair not to highlight that his most extraordinary devotion was to his family.  His service to others was remarkable, but they do not compare to the love, care, and presence he gave at home.  He was a man of honor – a devoted husband, father, brother and grandfather.  All who knew him felt his strength, his leadership, his commitment, and above all, his heart.
On hand to accept LeMaire’s award were his three children, David LeMaire, Wenday LeMaiire Diz, and Scott LeMaire. 

Gill Meaux, who nominated LeMaire for the athletic hall of fame, spoke about LeMaire at the banquet.
“Mr. Harris never missed a fundraiser for Abbeville High and was always willing to help anyone raise money,” said Meaux. “I remember driving one Saturday, looking in the Stines parking lot and seeing a tent with a few men cooking. Yeah, you guessed it. Mr. Harris was cooking to help out the Abbeville High cheerleaders. 
“What he gave to our school and community with his hands pales in comparison to what he gave his heart.”