Second-half domination gives Delcambre a homecoming win

Published 1:00 am Sunday, October 2, 2022

The Delcambre football team looked to have finally met its match when it hosted Westminster Christian Academy for the Panther’s homecoming football game on Friday. A second-half shoutout, and an unstoppable rushing offense, lead the Panthers to one of their best starts in over a decade.

Tied 14-14 going into halftime, head coach Artie Liuzza knew that he had to get his team focused ahead of the second half.

“I’m not really happy with our performance in the first half, more from an attitude standpoint,” he said about his team’s performance on Friday. “Homecoming has a lot of distractions and I understand that, but we’re coming into a hard district and we need to be disciplined for four quarters. The second half was a totally different story; the kids did a great job of answering the call. I told them that it was 0-0 at halftime and we won the second half 34-0, so I can’t be more pleased about that second half. We just have to clean up the first half.”

Westminster’s dual-threat offense started strong, making the Panthers pay for every overzealous pass rush and sloppy blitz with screen passes and easy tosses to wide-open receivers. Liuzza said that his defense suffered early from some miscommunication problems, but it was all resolved at halftime.

“I think that we weren’t being disciplined in our pass drops and we definitely had some miscommunications there,” he said. “Once everything was cleared up at halftime we were able to do what we needed to do.”

What they needed to do was shut down the Crusaders offense and keep pounding the ball downfield with their two excellent rushing threats: senior running back Jaxon Wiggins and senior quarterback Parker LeBlanc.

That’s exactly what they did.

Scoring the Panther’s only 2 touchdowns of the first half and adding 3 more in the second, Wiggins seemed unstoppable at times. With up to five opponents on his back as he carried the ball upfield, the 5-foot 10-inch senior kept the ball in Delcambre’s hands when it mattered most.

“He’s incredible, especially in a game like this where we needed to keep the ball away from the offense,” Liuzza said of Wiggins. “Jaxon is a competitor in everything that he does and it really shows up on the football field.”

Adding a second ruishing threat was LeBlanc, who was asked to forgo his usual offensive performance for a more ground-based attack.

“Parker did a great job,’ Liuzza said. “We didn’t ask him to throw the ball too much tonight because we were having so much success moving the ball on the ground. Getting the plays in and out, making the adjustments and making runs when he has to, that’s what he did for us tonight. That big run where he came back around after we got pinned back with penalties is what sparked the drive.”

The run in question occurred early in the fourth quarter as the Panthers were facing 2nd and 20 after penalties halted the drive. After scrambling out of the pocket to the right, LeBlanc surveyed the field and found his receivers all covered. Some quarterbacks would’ve settled for tossing the ball away and taking the snap again, but not LeBlanc.

The senior darted back across the field towards his own sideline, picked up several blockers, and ran his way downfield to secure the first down to keep the drive alive. LeBlanc said that the team’s discipline and brotherhood were exemplified in that play.

“I rolled out and when I came back I had six linemen blocking for me like an airplane, so there’s nothing greater than that,” he said. “We have 13 seniors so I know that I have 12 brothers on my side that I can count on. We have great leadership and chemistry and I can count on them like they can count on me.”

As for what his head coach told the team at halftime to get such a change out of the team, LeBlanc said that the message was simple.

“He told us to get fired up,” LeBlanc explained. “(Coach Liuzza) said that on one side of the ball we’re dominating and on the other side things aren’t working for us. It’s not about what we did in the past, it’s about what you’re going to do moving forward and making adjustments. That’s the most important lesson in football.”

Delcambre defeated Westminster 48-14, moving them to 4-1 this season.

The Panthers totaled 442 yards against Westminster Christian. Jaxon Wiggins led the offense with 246 yards from 26 carries, scoring 5 touchdowns.LeBlanc went 2/3 for 15 yards passing, adding another 87 yards on the ground from 17 carries.

Sophomore Genesis Tolentino (6 carries for 38 yards, 1 TD), senior Trevor Viator (3 carries for 32 yards) and freshman Hugo Morales (1 carry for 24 yards) also contributed to the win.

Delcambre will host Franklin Senior High School in the first round of District 8-2A play. The Hornets are 1-4 this season, coming off a 41-16 loss to Patterson in Week 5.