Cecilia Bulldogs Bite Again, Northside Falls Victim

Raymond Calais does a lot of things for the Cecilia offense. But through two games, the Bulldog standout running back has been getting a lot of help from his friends.

On Friday, it was senior quarterback Landon Roberts that did much of the damage, as the Bulldogs rolled to their second straight win with a convincing 33-6 victory over Northside.

Roberts threw for three scores, hitting six of 11 passes with none of the completions for less than 16 yards, and guided the Bulldog offense on two other solid drives that the talented Calais ended with touchdown runs.

Calais, who had burst for 228 yards and three scores against Comeaux one week earlier in an impressive 28-0 opening victory, was “limited” to 129 yards on 21 carries. But against the Vikings, they didn’t need him nearly as much, and Calais actually only played one snap in the fourth quarter.

“He has great speed, he’s always had that,” said Cecilia coach Terry Martin. “But tonight, at times, he showed he can be a little physical. I’m really proud of the way our offensive line got after it tonight. They did a lot of good things giving us time to throw and giving our backs some room.”

That time to throw made Roberts very effective, with touchdown strikes to Rusty Robin and Kenya Dartez in the first half and a back-breaking 37-yard strike to Robin on the Bulldogs’ first possession of the second half. That one made it 27-6 and left the Vikings (0-2) with too big a mountain to climb.

It didn’t help Northside that Cecilia staged its second straight defensive gem. After shutting out Comeaux last weekend, the Bulldogs sacked Viking quarterback Markaylon Boyd seven times on Friday. Boyd, who was effective early in hitting five of his first six passes for 135 yards, ended up with a minus-51 yard rushing total.

“Our defense did a great job once again,” said Martin, whose team is off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2009 – which also happens to be the last year the Bulldogs finished with a winning record. “Any time you win it’s a good thing, but I thought our defense did a lot of things very well. Give Northside a lot of credit, though, they battled hard.”

In all, Northside wound up with 49 rush yards as a team despite the 81-yard effort of Raleigh Robinson, who had the Vikings’ only touchdown on a three-yard burst early in the second quarter.

Cecilia, a former district mate of the Vikings before a district realignment that put them in different Class 4A leagues, drove to a touchdown on its first possession with Roberts guiding a 68-yard, 10-play drive and capping it himself with a 16-yard strike to Robin with 6:53 left in the first quarter.

Northside (0-2) came right back when Boyd hooked up with a sprinting Lenox Pierre over the middle for a 54-yard strike down to the Cecilia 3. One play later Robinson bowled into the end zone to keep the game close at 7-6 after a missed extra point.

That was far from Northside’s only threat. The Vikings drove into Cecilia territory on four of their next six possessions before hurting themselves with penalties and a pair of turnovers.

Only five plays after Robinson’s score, the Bulldogs increased the lead to 14-6 with Calais carrying three straight imes for 26 yards. That set up a 39-yard Roberts toss to Dartez, a high-archer that the senior caught between two Viking defenders and high-stepped into the end zone with 9:06 left before halftime.

After forcing a punt, the Bulldogs drove 47 yards and Calais covered the final four for his first touchdown and a 21-6 halftime lead.

Boyd was hit and fumbled on the fourth play of the second half to give Cecilia possession at its own 37, and a Calais run and a personal foul penalty set up Robin’s second touchdown that was the backbreaker for the host Vikings.

Boyd was intercepted on the next drive, with an apparent 90-yard interception return for a touchdown by Keldrick Zeno nullified by a penalty. But it still took Cecilia only five plays to get its last score on Calais’ 14-yard run.

Cecilia 33, Northside 6

Cecilia 7 14 12 0 -- 33

Northside 0 6 0 0 -- 6

First Quarter

CEC -- Rusty Robin 16 pass from Landon Roberts (Tanner Olivier kick)

Second Quarter

NHS -- Raleigh Robinson 3 run (kick failed)

CEC -- Kenya Dartez 39 pass from Roberts (Olivier kick)

CEC -- Raymond Calais 4 run (Olivier kick)

Third Quarter

CEC --Robin 37 pass from Roberts (kick failed)

CEC -- Calais 14 run (pass failed)

CEC NHS

First downs 16 9

Rushing Yards 216 49

Passing Yards 178 159

Total Yards 394 208

Comp-Att-Int 6-11-0 6-17-1

Punts-Avg. 2-32.0 4-34.8

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 5-1

Penalties-Yards 11-75 10-70

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- CEC: Raymond Calais 21-129 2 TD, Devin Briscoe 7-72, Landon Roberts 6-8, Landon Lalonde 1-4, Matt Broussard 1-3, Layn Chautin 1-0, Jamir Kees 1-2, team 1-minus 2. NHS: Raleigh Robinson 9-81 1 TD, Taveon Leary 7-19, Markaylon Boyd 12-minus 51.

PASSING -- CEC: Roberts 6-110, 178 yds., 3 TD. NHS: Boyd 6-17-1, 159 yds.

RECEIVING -- CEC: Rusty Robin 3-83 2 TD, Kenya Dartez 3-95 1 TD. NHS: Lenox Pierre 2-76, Cameron McGilvery 1-24, Phabien Ryan 2-18, Leary 1-41.

Records: Cecilia 2-0, Northside 0-2. Next: Cecilia hosts Crowley Friday, Northside at Comeaux Friday.