By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
There is the theory going around in sports these days that there is no such thing as the “clutch gene.” Statistical analysis, according to some, does not show any measurable difference in an athlete’s ability to perform under pressure as opposed to any other time during a contest.
In other words, there is no mental switch that can be turned on when the game is on the line. Or so they say.
Anybody who believes that would quickly have the theory disproved had they been at Jerry Barker Stadium Friday night for Catholic-New Iberia’s 33-31 win over Calvary in the Division III (select) semifinals.
Clutch was on full display by both teams. As Calvary coach Rodney Guin said afterward, “They just made more plays that we did.”
Which was exactly what happened. With the game on the line in the fourth quarter, both teams kept making play after play after play.
“Coming into it, we knew we had to make plays,” said Catholic coach Matthew Desormeaux. “Whatever it took. Claw, fight, drag … just do whatever it took.”
Ultimately, Catholic just made one more than Calvary, the defending state champion. But don’t get fooled into thinking that one play was Bennett Boudreaux’s 26-yard field goal with one second to play. That was merely the final play of a remarkable battle to see who would advance to play in the state championship game next week in the Superdome.
What led up to Boudreaux’s game winner is even more astounding. The final 63 seconds showed just how hard two teams can play when the game was on the line.
Let’s get to the end and then circle back.
On the fateful drive, Catholic had the ball at the Cavs’ 44 after a recovered onside kick by the Panthers’ Chris Green. Here’s how the next three plays went – fumbled snap with quarterback Luke Landry avoiding a sack; a pass thrown into triple coverage that was almost intercepted; a pass batted down by Calvary’s Ethan Sands.
But on fourth-and-10, and the game literally on the line, Landry found Jake Wyman for an 11-yard gain to keep the drive alive. “That was a gutsy play,” Landry said.
Three plays later, Landry found Jaidan Mitchell to covert a third down as the Panthers got into field goal range.
That’s clutch.
After that, the Panthers (who had no time outs remaining) perfectly executed two spikes sandwiched around a running play to get set up directly in front of the goal posts for the winning kick.
“We’ve never even practiced that (situation),” Landry said. “We just went out and did it and see what happens.”
What happened was Boudreaux’s game winner, but what happened before that was three quarters of really solid football by both teams … and then it got really good.
After trailing the whole game, the Cavaliers were faced with fourth-and-14 at the Catholic 37. Quarterback Abram Wardell, who had already converted two third-down passes to Kolby Thomas on the drive, found a wide-open Kaleb Tucker in the end zone for a touchdown and the first Calvary lead with 7:31 to play.
Clutch.
On the ensuing drive, Catholic had a 16-play drive – converting a fourth-and-two along the way – and made it all the way to the Calvary 3, but had to count on a 29-yard field by Boudreaux just to tie the game with 3:25 to go.
Clutch.
With no time outs, Calvary put the ball in James Simon’s hands four straight times (three runs and a pass) before Julius Moss came in and ran it in from 25 yards and a 31-24 lead with 1:57 to go.
But just as Calvary never blinked, neither did Catholic. Landry completed three passes – the biggest being a 41-yard floater that Mitchell stepped in front of the Calvary defender that put the ball at the Cavs 6.
Clutch.
It took three plays, but the Panthers got in the end zone with 1:03 to go when Landry found Joseph LeBlanc to make it 31-30. But if you thought Desormeaux would take the easy way out and kick the extra point to tie it, think again.
“I’ll be honest with you, I’m normally not a very aggressive coach,”: Desormeaux said. “We ran a lot of our take-a-shot-plays in this game because I knew the caliber of team we were playing. So I asked my seniors “Are we going for the win or going to tie it?” They said let’s go for it.”
The extra point play, which Landry said the Panthers had practiced for two years but never used, was a rollout to the left.
The left-hander kept looking and looking and finally tried to get the ball to LeBlanc. But he short-armed the pass and it was incomplete.
“My heart sunk,” Landry said. “I thought it was over. I was on the sideline thinking the journey can’t end this way.”
But all that did was set the stage for the final drive that resulted in the 12th straight win and a date with Dunham (Baton Rouge) for the state championship next Friday afternoon at the Caesars Superdome.
Catholic ran 18 plays in the final 1:57 to keep its season alive. “I’m going to remember the grit our kids showed,” Desormeaux said. “We talked to them about ‘The Moment’ with this game. Is it going to be a good moment or bad?”
“This was what a semifinal game is supposed to be,” Guin said. “We looked like we might have been out of the game and then we looked like we had it won. But they got the onside kick and made plays to get the field goal.”
Simon ran for 150 yards on 30 carries for Calvary (10-3) and Wardell completed 17 of 22 for 190 yards. Landry was 21 of 45 for 242 yards and three touchdowns.
“It’s a tough one,” Guin said, “but the sun will come up tomorrow.”
“It was,” Desormeaux said, “a hell of a game.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com