Wildcats focused on first district game vs. Crowley

The Abbeville High Wildcats are putting a tough game behind them and looking to get off to a good start to their District 5-3A title chase with a win over Crowley on Friday.
“Everybody’s goal is going to be to go out and win a district championship,” Abbeville head coach Roderick Moy said. “It’s going to be their homecoming, so they’re going to be up and want to play for their alumni, so it’s going to be an interesting ballgame.”
The Wildcats (4-2 overall) got off to a bad start at St. Charles Catholic this past week, going three and out before snapping the ball over the punter’s head on their first possession. That led to a TD two plays later, and after a turnover, the Comets went up 16-0 in the first four minutes of the contest.
“It snowballed from there,” Moy said. “We got three first downs the whole game.
“That’s the way it went. Bad night. We just wrote it off as they were better than us and we move on and start district play now.”
Moy said the Wildcats have already put that 51-0 loss to the team ranked No. 2 in the latest Class 2A poll taken by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association and the No. 2 team in the unofficial Division III select power rankings from both the LHSAA and geauxpreps.com.
“We just need to get back to being us,” the coach said. “That’s what this week has been about. We’re 0-0 and there’s no way we win a district championship without beating Crowley. That’s where our focus is right now — 1-0 this week.”
Edmar Simon leads a balanced Abbeville rushing attack with nearly 500 yards and five touchdowns and Justin Montgomery has more than 400 yards and three touchdowns. Ta’Zavian Andrews (1 TD) and Zaylun Williams (4 TDs) are also over 100 yards on the season.
Sophomore quarterback De’Zavien Maze and senior Tahj Judge, who gets some time at QB in addition to starting in the defensive secondary, have combined to throw for more than 200 yards and a couple of touchdowns.
“We focused yesterday on getting back to the basics, back to being us, doing what we do well, and not really focusing on another opponent,” Moy said.
“I think we overhyped the game against St. Charles and made it about playing the defending state champions instead of just playing the best game we could. We’re not focusing too much on Crowley, we’re going to wordy about doing what we do the best we can.”
The Gents (0-6, 0-1 district) lost their district opener to Kaplan this past week, 22-13. Crowley is led by running back Omar Butler, a senior who played quarterback last year. His 811 yards and nine touchdowns leads the Crowley rushing attack. Junior QB Maddix Richard has thrown for 641 yards and five touchdowns with seven interceptions in his first year as a starter, with Floyd Flugence leading the Gents with 27 catches for 432 yards and three touchdowns.
“They threw the ball well against Kaplan,” Moy said. “Were going to have to stop both, but it starts with Omar Butler and making them one-dimensional. Then once we know the pass is coming and we can get a lead, then we’ll lock in on stopping that (pass game). But you’re not going to beat Crowley if you let him get loose. He’s definitely our No. 1 focus.”
Controlling the ball and the clock, not turning the ball over, and getting some turnovers are keys for the Wildcats, Moy said.
“Crowley’s big, so our focus goes back to where it’s been every other week,” Moy said. “If we can control the offensive and defensive lines with technique and doing things right, we’re going to be OK.”