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Vermilion Parish is now the proud home of two National Champion Dance Teams.
Over the weekend, North Vermilion’s Dream Team Dance Team and the Erath Extreme Dance Team won their Varsity Game Day National Championship in Orlando, FL.
Erath is the Medium Varsity Division II Game Day National Champions. 
North Vermilion is the Small Varsity Division II Game Day National Champions.
It is the second year in a row that the Dream Team has won the championship in Game Day.
North Vermilion Dance Team coaches Vandie Davidson and Shamayne Istre said there was some pressure.
“Returning from nationals in 2024 as title winners was an amazing feeling, but it did come with some expectations,” said the NV coaches.
“There is pressure to prove yourself again and that your program is consistent. Our returning girls felt pressure to prove that they could lead their team back to a championship without their graduating seniors and our first year girls felt the pressure of meeting expectation of a champion from day one.”
The coaches said throughout the season, the girls reminded themselves that they are good enough to do it again, and that they needed each other to make it happen.
Davidson said, “I read this quote recently that states, ‘You simply aren’t considered a real champion until you have defended your title successfully…winning it twice proves that you are the best!’
“Those words are what we set out to prove. After earning that title again this year, I think the pressure will lessen a little, but it won’t go away! Dreams are just built differently, they thrive on challenges and they have a drive that will keep them focused on earning that title again,” added Davidson.
However, this was the first time the Erath Extreme Dance Team had won a title. Last year, they finished second in the same event.
Also, the Lady Bobcats finished seventh in the Hip Hop category.
North Vermilion finished ninth in the Small Varsity Division II Hip Hop category.
In the Game Day Division, Erath finished in first place during the first round, allowing them to advance to the second round in front of new judges. However, being in first place after the first round does not guarantee a victory. Last year, although they finished in first place after the first round, they ultimately did not win. In contrast, a team that started in sixth place after the first round moved up to first place and claimed victory last year.
The EHS Extreme Dance team only has two seniors - Mary Grace White and Regan Granger.
“We tried not to expect anything after the first round,” said Granger. “We wanted to go into the second round and perform and make ourselves proud.”
After the second-round performance, White said she got chills when she walked off the stage.
“I felt we did enough to us to be proud,” added White. 
Eleven teams advanced to the finals. The announcer counted down the top eleven finishers, and when they reached the final three, things got intense for Erath. 
It got really intense when there were two teams—Erath and Teurlings. Teurlings had beaten Erath in the regional finals.
“We knew we had to bring it if we wanted to beat Teurlings,” said White. “They were our biggest competition.”
When the announcer said Teurlings finished second, the Lady Bobcat dancers began yelling and jumping for joy.
“It was surreal,” said Granger. “We all began crying. It was the best feeling.”
Erath’s Dance Team has come far in the last four years.
When White and Granger were freshmen, the EHS Extreme Dance Team did not make it to the second round. They advanced to the second round their sophomore year and finished 13th place.
Last year, in their junior year, they finished second, and this year, in their senior year, they brought home the first-place trophy.
“All of the hard work paid off,” said White.

Nicholls State football stadium in Thibodaux feels like home for Vermilion Catholic senior Jonathan “JonJon” Dartez. Because of that special feeling, he decided to spend the next four years playing football and getting an education.
Nicholls State offered Dartez a football scholarship and he accepted the offer. Today, (Wednesday), Dartez is expected to sign a letter of intent from Nicholls State.
Nicholls State felt at home because he had played two high school football games there; he practiced in the stadium before this year’s state championship game. He also went to the Manning football camp there a few years ago.
VC played former district foe Covenant Christian twice in Nicholls Stadium,.
So, when he and his father, Darrin, toured the stadium and the athletic facilities, they felt like they were “coming home.”
“I was not nervous at all,” said Dartez about touring the campus. “It was relaxing. It felt like home when I walked into the stadium.  The coaches also made me feel comfortable.”
The Colonels play in the Southland Conference and posted a 4-8 season in 2024.
On his visit, he met with new Nicholls head football coach Tommy Rybacki. Rybacki is starting his first year as the head coach. He was the defensive coordinator at Nicholls for 10 years. 
He replaces Tim Rebowe, who retired from coaching after 10 years at Nicholls State.
Dartez, who stands 5-9, led the Eagles to a perfect 14-0 season in 2024. He ended the season leading the team with 2,761 rushing yards on 348 carries and 44 touchdowns.   He threw for 1,638 yards and 23 touchdowns in the air with a 63% completion rate.
He has rushed for 7,018 yards and threw for 5,000 yards in four years. 
Despite accumulating more than 12,000 yards in the air and on the ground,  one stat never gets any attention.
He has 563 receiving yards and four touchdowns.
Look for Dartez to play a slot receiver in college. It is a position he has always dreamed of playing. He watched his older brother, Saul, play wide receiver at VC.
“I like the way a receiver runs the route. It could be a perfect route,” he said. “Plus, I always thought a receiver  was more fun to watch.”
Dartez is Nicholls State’s 11th committed player heading into the National Signing Day. All 11 are from Louisiana, and four of the 11 are wide receivers.

The No. 5-ranked Abbeville Lady Wildcats used a 22-point performance from Alyria Greene and a last-second three pointer from Amani Linton to defeat the No. 12 St. Martinville Lady Tigers 51-48 in District 5-3A action Friday night.
Abbeville (15-4, 5-0) turned a 30-34 second-half deficit into a 44-35 fourth-quarter advantage. St. Martinville answered the 14-1 run with a 13-4 run of its own to knot the score at 48 with 9.7 seconds to play.
Tianna Briggs dribbled up the court and passed to Nia Darby, who found Linton camping on the wing. The freshman caught the pass, turned, and let it fly. The shot caught nothing but net and sent the home-crowd into a frenzy with three seconds left to play.
“I was nervous at first,” Linton said. I was looking to pass, but then I saw the goal and just shot it. I did it twice before in middle school, so I knew I was going to make it.”
Greene set the tone for the Lady Cats with her consistency. She scored 11 points in the first half and 11 in the second.
“As a senior I have to lead by example” Greene said. “If I give my maximum effort, my teammates will too, and we’ll get where we want to be.
“Also, when adversity hits, we have to pick each other up. We can’t hang our heads. We have to turn it up and find a way.”
St. Martinville (13-6, 3-2) kept the game close throughout. They lost the first quarter 13-10 but won the second quarter 10-13 to make it 23-23 at the half.
The back and forth continued in the third quarter as neither team could gain any separation. The Lady Tigers led 33-34 heading into the fourth. Abbeville started the fourth on an 11-1 run before St. Martinville answered and set up Linton’s heroics.
Keira Gordon joined Greene in double figures with 12 points. Nia Darby scored seven while Linton added five. Khrystani Samuels dropped three points while Briggs scored two.
Abbeville continues District 5-3A play this week as they traveled to Erath on Tuesday and will host ARCA on Friday.

LEROY - The North Vermilion Lady Patriots soccer team lost a heartbreaker in the first round of the Division II soccer playoffs held this past weekend.
The Lady Patriots entered the first round as the No. 15 seed and met No. 18 Ouachita Christian. The game lasted two and half hours. When regulation ended, forcing the game into two 10 minute overtimes and then followed by two five minute overtimes.
The contest finally ended in a 4-2 shoot-out.