by Dan McDonald/Special to AcadianaPostgame.com

YOUNGSVILLE – With an awful lot in his arsenal, Ascension Episcopal coach Michael Desormeaux could almost sit back and enjoy his team’s offensive performance Friday night.

“We have a lot of weapons,” Desormeaux said after the host Blue Gators rolled up 456 yards of offense and scored on all but two possessions in what became a 49-12 victory over Hanson in the District 7-A opener for both teams. “It doesn’t matter to us if we run or throw. We have some good players in both of those spots. It’s easy to coach good players.”

The fifth-ranked Gators got 209 combined yards from Ja’Ceiry Linzer and Andre Roth, with each of the Gator running backs scoring twice. In addition, Jake Arceneaux threw for two more scores among his 144 passing yards, even though only throwing twice in the second half after AES held a 35-6 halftime lead.

The visiting Tigers could only look on as Ascension scored on five of its six first-half possessions. On each of the two occasions when Hanson (1-3, 0-1) threatened to get back into the game, the Gators came back with back-to-back scores each time.

Hanson’s Luis Rodriguez returned a kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown midway through the second quarter to cut AES’ early margin to 21-6, but two touchdowns in the final 3:48 before halftime provided that 35-6 bulge. Then when the Tigers drove 52 yards with the second-half kickoff and Brant Broussard scored on a 13-yard run, Ascension came right back with two more touchdowns in just over four minutes.

The Gators rolled up 456 total offensive yards, 303 of them on the ground . Linzer had 122 rush yards including a 50-yard scoring burst with 7:26 left before halftime, and he added a 20-yard touchdown run five plays after Broussard’s score. Roth had scoring runs of one and 15 yards in the first half on his way to 87 rush yards.

“Give credit to that offensive line,” Desormeaux said. “Our guys up front, they’re the ones that we count on to give us a chance to win every week.”

The Tigers didn’t help themselves early with turnovers on their first two possessions. Quarterback Britt Young’s fumble near midfield set up Roth’s first score, and an interception ended Hanson’s best first-half drive.

Ascension had taken an early 7-0 lead when Arceneaux completed four passes in an opening 65-yard drive and capped the march with a two-yard toss to Camp Juneau. He also finished the half with a 23-yard scoring pass to Jack Leoni that provided the four-score halftime lead.

Arceneaux hit 11-of-18 passes including the two scores in directing an offense that is averaging 40.3 points per game through four outings.

“There’s still a lot of things we can clean up, and the kids see that on film,” Desormeaux said. “We’re not where we want to be, and our kids know they have bigger things ahead of them.”

 

Ascension Episcopal 49, Hanson 12

Hanson                            0   6     6   0 -- 12

Ascension Episcopal     14  21  14   0 -- 49

First Quarter

AES -- Camp Juneau 2 pass from Jake Arceneaux (Taylor Doss kick)
AES -- Andre Roth 15 run (Doss kick)

Second Quarter

AES -- Ja’ciery Linzer 50 run (Doss kick)
HAN -- Luis Rodriguez 87 kickoff return (pass failed)
AES -- Roth 1 run (Doss kick)
AES -- Jack Leoni 23 pass from Arceneaux (Doss kick)

Third Quarter

HAN -- Brant Broussard 13 run (run failed)
AES -- Linzer 20 run (Doss kick)
AES -- Peyton Adams 2 run (Doss kick)

 

HAN       AES

First downs                  8             24

Rushing Yards            79           303

Passing Yards            75           153

Total Yards                 154          453

Comp-Att-Int            13-23-1    12-20-0

Punts-Avg.                4-27.3     1-39.0

Fumbles-Lost               2-1         1-0

Penalties-Yards           2-20       6-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- HAN: Luke Rodriguez 7-10, Brant Broussard 6-38 1 TD, Britt Young 5-14, Stephen Rosamond 6-17. AES: Ja’Ceiry Linzer 10-122 2 TD, Andre Roth 11-87 2 TD, Peyton Adams 6-43 1 TD, Jake Arceneaux 2-15, Leo Franques 6-21, Jake Vascocu 3-7, Christian Deville 3-11, team 1-minus 3.

PASSING -- HAN: Britt Young 13-23-1, 75 yds. AES: Arceneaux 11-18-0, 144 yds., 3 TD, Vascocu 1-2-0, 9 yds.

RECEIVING -- HAN: Luke Lancon 6-36, Jacob Srigney 4-14, Brian Sonnier 1-9, Broussard 1-8, Brennan Young 1-8. AES: Ronald LeBlanc 4-68, Mac Kelly 2-29, Seth Kerstetter 2-15, Jack Leoni 1-23 1 TD, Camp Juneau 2-9 1 TD, John Wyatt 1-9.

Records: Hanson 1-3 (0-1), Ascension Episcopal 4-0 (1-0). Next: Hanson at Vermilion Catholic Friday, Ascension Episcopal at Gueydan Friday.

More From Acadiana Postgame