Wildcats Dominate, 36-7

The Abbeville High Wildcats thoroughly dominated the Beau Chene Gators on Friday to send their fans home happy with a resounding 36-7 win on homecoming night.
Abbeville racked up 356 rushing yards, with three runners right around the 100-yard mark. Five different player scored touchdowns for Abbeville, and eight players had carries.
The Wildcats were equally as impressive on defense, holding BC to 39 yards on the ground and 82 total yards.
It all began up front for the ’Cats, on both sides of the ball.
“The line — I know that’s a thankless position, it’s kind of like a teacher,” Abbeville head coach Roderick Moy said. “But they went out and really controlled this game on the offensive and defensive line, and allowed us to be who we are.”
Who the Wildcats are is a team that likes to win in the trenches and spread the ball around to a lot of different offensive players.
Abbeville marched 57 yards on its opening drive to get on the scoreboard first. Five players had carries on the drive, with Justin Montgomery getting into the end zone on a four-yard carry with 5:12 left in the first period. After Montgomery added the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead, the game was halted because of nearby lightning.
After a delay of about 45 minutes, the teams went back at it. Beau Chene used a fumble recovery at the Abbeville 6 to take over in a first-and-goal situation, but couldn’t convert on a 37-yard field goal after two tackles for loss and two pre-snap penalties moved the Gators back to the 19.
Abbeville responded with an 81-yard scoring drive, with Edmar Simon III getting the scoring honors on a 35-yard gallop through a huge hole up the middle. Simon also tacked on the 2-point conversion for a 16-0 lead with 7:53 left in the first half.
“The lightning delay, when we had no idea it was supposed to rain at all tonight, but the way our kids were able to come back focused and stay the course, that’s tough for young kids to do sometimes,” Moy said. “Beau Chene played hard, but we came out and hit them in the mouth and played our brand of ball, and I was really proud of our kids.”
Montgomery led the Wildcats with 110 yards and a touchdown on 13 rushes. Simon had 109 yards and a touchdown on eight runs.
Quarterback Da’Zavien Maze was next to score, carrying in on a 16-yard run with 3:41 left in the second quarter, and Zaylun Williams added the 2-point conversion for a 24-0 lead.
“We went out and we were who we were,” Moy said. “We’re where we wanted to be. We went out and got a good, solid homecoming victory for our fans. We said we were going to go out and play for the Hall of Fame inductees (Matt Broussard and the late Jason O’Brien), and those ladies and gentlemen on the (homecoming) court, and we did that. I’m proud of these guys and the way they were able to come out and just take care of business on a week that can be tough to stay focused.”
After the rains stopped, Abbeville came out to start the second half with a recovered kickoff at the BC 5-yard line after the Gators failed to get on the deep kick from Williams. Kyrese Collins jumped on the ball for the Wildcats, and four plays later, Williams bulled in from the 1-yard line. The 2-point try failed on an incomplete pass, but Abbeville had built its lead to 30-0 with 9:46 left in the third quarter.
Maze and Williams were limited in their carries, with Maze gaining 36 yards and scoring once on four runs, and Williams gaining 17 yards and getting one TD on four rushes.
Abbeville got its final score on its next possession after forcing the Gators to punt. Ta’Zavien Andrews scored on a 27-yard run behind Williams’ lead block with 4:52 remaining in the game for the 36-0 lead. Andrews had 91 yards and a touchdown on 12 rushes.
Beau Chene had 10 possessions — two of which came after muffed punt receptions by the Wildcats — and punted six times. One possession ended on an interception by Abbeville’s Tahj Judge, one ended on the missed field goal, and yet another ended on a turnover on downs just before the end of the first half.
Beau Chene’s only score came on its final possession against AHS backup players, after the Gators recovered a muffed punt at the Abbeville 47. After seven lays, including a 29-yard completion on a fourth-and-seven pass, the Gators reached the end zone on an eight-yard quarterback keeper from Marcelo Sanchez.
“It’s homecoming, and their parents come to watch them just like everybody else,” Moy said of the late substitutions the Wildcats made on offense and defense. “We got everybody in the ballgame tonight. I was proud of that. That’s a young football team over there (referring to Beau Chene), so they did what they had to do. I’m absolutely OK with the final score and the way our kids went out and performed from top to bottom.”
The 3-1 Wildcats travel to West St. Mary on Thursday.