Wilson Fuels Acadiana To Third Straight District Win

by Dan McDonald/Special to Sports Radio ESPN 1420

Acadiana coach Ted Davidson called Jayrin Wilson “special” late Friday night.

Nobody would argue, least of all Comeaux’s Spartans.

Wilson went 64 yards for a touchdown on Friday’s first play from scrimmage, and topped that on the Wreckin’ Rams’ next offensive play with a tackle-breaking 80-yard touchdown run.

Later on, he took a kickoff back 95 yards for a clinching score in the third quarter, effectively putting a cap on what became a 50-11 runaway in the team’s District 3-5A contest at Spartan Stadium.

“He’s a special athlete,” Davidson said after Wilson finished with 148 rush yards on only four carries. “We knew that they (Comeaux) were going to come out here juiced up, but Jayrin kind of took that out of them. Those first two runs were a big boost for us.”

The Rams (4-2, 3-0) kept getting boosts the rest of the way, with backfield mates Ziggy Francis and quarterback Myles Hutchinson each adding two touchdowns in pacing Acadiana’s third straight win after a 1-2 start.

The Rams finished with 296 yards out of their Veer offense and scored touchdowns on five of their six first-half possessions. The only time Acadiana didn’t score came when the Rams came up short on a fourth-and-two at their own 28 on the second play of the second quarter.

Even then, Acadian forced Comeaux to a four-and-out without a first down, and an ensuing 70-yard drive was capped by Francis’ one-yard scoring run that made it 21-3.
Comeaux (2-4, 0-3) had drive to the Acadiana 20 and 5 on its first two possessions but had only a 22-yard Grant Emfinger field goal to show for it, before two incompletions ended the third drive.

The Spartans did get a touchdown on their best drive of the night in the third quarter, starting from their own 16 and going 84 yards on 10 plays before Gabe Ardoin went the final 14 yards on a counter that cut the margin to 35-11.

However, Wilson gathered in Emfinger’s bouncing kickoff at his own five-yard line moments later and brought it back 95 yards for a clinching score.

The Rams moved into sole possession of first place in District 3-5A and are the league’s only unbeaten squad, courtesy of New Iberia’s 45-21 victory over previously unbeaten Sam Houston.

Francis, who finished with 64 rush yards, also had a three-yard scoring run late in the second period after Hutchinson’s 14-yard keeper 3:38 before halftime gave the Ram quarterback his first touchdown of the year.

Both of the last two touchdowns of the half came after the Spartans mishandled kickoffs, one recovered by Kablen Shelvin at the Comeaux 30 and the second by Brian Lebon at the Spartan 35.

“That was embarrassing,” said a disappointed Comeaux coach Doug Dotson at halftime. “Not handling the kickoff, that’s something we just can’t do.”

Hutchinson provided the final score with his two-yard run 46 seconds into the final quarter, and finished with 52 rush yards to go with two completions for 48 yards.
Comeaux quarterback Brett Dotson finished 15-of-27 passing for 196 yards, but the Spartans suffered key penalties that stymied two early offensive drives before the rash of fumbles.
Acadiana, which lost back to back games in the second and third weeks of the season, had taken two close wins over Barbe and Sulphur in the last two weeks.
“Hopefully we got the kinks out early,” said Davidson, whose team didn’t have a turnover until the final six minutes. “We don’t want to be playing our best football in week one, we want to play our best late in the season. Our goal is just to get better every week. This one was a district game and an in-town game. It doesn’t take a lot to get them up for one like this.”

Acadiana 50, Comeaux 11
Acadiana   14  21  8   7 -- 50
Comeaux   3    0   8   0 -- 11
First Quarter
ACAD -- Jayrin Wilson 64 run (Jacob Judice kick)
ACAD -- Wilson 80 run (Judice kick)
COM -- Grant Emfinger22 field goal
Second Quarter
ACAD -- Ziggy Francis 1 run (Judice kick)
ACAD -- Myles Hutchinson 14 run (Judice kick)
ACAD -- Francis 3 run (Judice kick)
Third Quarter
COM -- Gabe Ardoin 14 run (Tristan Green pass from Brett Dotson)
ACAD -- Wilson 95 kickoff return (Kevin Moore pass from Bralen Trahan)
Fourth Quarter
ACAD -- Hutchinson 2 run (Judice kick)

ACAD     COM
First downs             14          13
Rushing Yards       294         68
Passing Yards        63         196
Total Yards            359        264
Comp-Att-Int         3-5-0   16-27-1
Punts-Avg.           2-34.5   2-31.5
Fumbles-Lost          3-1        6-4
Penalties-Yards      6-51      5-27
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- ACAD: Jayrin Wilson 4-148 2 TD, Ziggy Francis 13-64 2 TD, Myles Hutchinson 8-52 2 TD, Alex Courtier 4-14, Jaylen James 1-7, Bralen Trahan 1-5, Kesean Carter 1-5, Jaylon Borel 4-1. COM: Gabe Ardoin 17-54 1 TD, Tiki Pascual 4-6, Jeremiah Pickett 2-8, Demarcus Hill 2-5, Tanarious Achan 1-1, Brett Dotson 4-minus 6.
PASSING -- ACAD: Hutchinson 2-4-0, 48 yds., Borel 1-1-0, 15 yds. COM: Dotson 16-27-1, 196 yds.
RECEIVING -- ACAD: Javonis Issac 1-34, Trahan 1-14, Hunter Tabb 1-15. COM: Achan 7-106, Mike Smith 3-17, Austin Topus 2-45, Alec Toups 2-12, Izayah Thomas 2-16.

Records: ACAD 4-2, 3-0; COM 2-4, 0-3. Next: Acadiana at Lafayette High Friday, Comeaux at St. Martinville Friday.