Erath to open district with game at St. Martinville

ERATH — The Erath Bobcats are looking to build on the momentum of a homecoming win this past week as they open District 5-3A play on the road Friday at St. Martinville.
Erath rolled up 309 yards offensively, rushing for 219, and outscored the visiting Lions 20-8 in the second half to break open what had been a 1-point game at intermission.
Head coach Eric LeBlanc said the Bobcats are looking to control the ball this week again to gain the upper hand on St. Martinville.
“Ball control,” he said. “You’re looking at a team that’s got athletes all over the field. If we can control the ball and sustain drives, and have good coverage, and good reads, and good keys and we keep them off the field and keep them out of the end zone, we’ve got as good a chance as anybody.”
Quarterback Lynkon Romero is the Bobcats’ leading rusher with 193 yards and six touchdowns, and Mason Hebert is right behind him with 180 yards and two touchdowns.
“We work on our run game every day, and if we want that to happen (a strong ball-control offense), we’ve got to have completed passes and run the with efficiency,” LeBlanc said. “I think we know exactly what St. Martinville’s going to give us on offense and on defense, and we’ve got to go execute so we can be productive on Friday night.”
Romero leads Vermilion Parish with 790 passing yards, and the Bobcats have four of the top 10 receivers in the parish, led by Treyvan Williams with 10 catches for 154 yards, second most yards in the parish.
Christian Pillette, who is out with an injury, has 11 catches for 147 yards and two TDs, while Bo Lancon (8-132, 1 TD) and Cameron Soirez (8-112) are in the top 10 as well.
Romero also ranks fourth in the parish with 40 points. Four other Bobcats have scored at least two touchdowns, including Landon Lemaire (98 yards rushing, 51 yards receiving on the season) with three TDs and Blake Dautreuil, Mason Hebert and Pillette with two each.
Though Vinton receiver Freddie Budwine had a spectacular night, it was because he went up and made plays over defenders who were in good position. and the Bobcats held the rest of the visiting team to just over 120 total yards
“He was a good athlete, but we had great coverage, as far as we can tell,” LeBlanc said. “We had some really good courage out there. He just made plays on the ball that we didn’t. I thought our DBs played on their keys well, and were able to get themselves in position. Besides No. 3 (Budwine) making plays on us, I want to say we held them to 40 yards rushing, or 30 yards rushing, something like that. He had about seven catches on us that we’ve got to work on making plays on. But the defense played really well.”
That will be important this week when the Bobcats travel to St. Martinville to face the 1-4 Tigers.
SMSH beat Breaux Bridge 40-19 in week three but has losses to Class 4A Cecilia (4-1), perennial power Notre Dame (2-3), 4A Westgate (4-1) and 5A Lafayette (2-3) on its schedule.
LeBlanc said the start of district gives the Bobcats a chance to reset the season. Erath is 1-4 but has been close in most games, with only one loss by more than 11 points.
“We kind of did a reset,” he said. “We finished half the season. The next part of the season is district. It’s here.
“I thought yesterday’s practice was really good. We’ve still got some young guys with some things that we’re working out. They’re hungry.”