When the Anderson Middle and Belle Place Middle teams took the field at Westgate High School on Thursday, it was a matchup between the best junior high teams in the Teche Area.

With both teams entering the contest with perfect records, the difference was always going to be who could capitalize on the other team’s mistakes.

On Thursday, the answer was unequivocally the Belle Place Cardinals.

With several big plays on defense forcing turnovers from Anderson Middle, the Cardinals were able to make the most of their opportunities and limit the damage from their own turnovers.

For Belle Place head coach Arthur Frank, his team’s performance on Thursday can be traced back to the hard work they put in over the summer.

“We’ve worked hard from day one,” Frank said. “We started practicing on June 6, three days out of the week in 110 degree heat. We’re constantly working to develop that mental toughness in these guys and it carries over to the game. Overall, the team did great on both sides of the ball. It was a good team effort.”

Anderson head coach Robert Pickney agreed, citing his team’s defensive struggles as the catalyst for the defeat.

“We made a lot of mistakes and a good team like Belle Place is going to capitalize on them,” Pickney explained. “We put our defense into short-field situations and we weren’t as sharp as we normally are. This is the first time that we gave up points all season, but (Belle Place) is a good, well coached team. Arthur Frank and Reggie Davis do a great job over there. I have a lot of respect for them and the program. They deserve the win because they played harder than us tonight.”

For Belle Place, the opportunity to face off against Anderson is something they have been focused on all season.

“We circle this game on the schedule from day one,” said Frank. “We prepare every day to get better to beat Anderson, that’s the mindset of the whole season and it just carries on throughout the year. We had great practices all week, the guys were locked in and focused.”

The Cardinals went into the game with a well-drilled offensive unit, utilizing two quarterbacks to offer a multi-faceted approach to dealing with Anderson’s athletic defense.

QB Nathan LeBlanc looked comfortable in the pocket, delivering inch-perfect passes to several Cardinals receivers. Caemon Crockem (83 yards, 1 TD) Noah Antoine (1 TD), Antonio Quintell (1 INT for TD) and Cayden Lancilan (85 yards, 1 TD) all excelled against Anderson.

Defenders Jaihlon Davis (1 INT) and Jamilton Antoine (2 fumble recoveries) led the team in turnovers.

The win moved Belle Place to a 5-0 record on the season, with a game against Cecilia next on the schedule.

Anderson dropped to 4-1 with the loss. Their next game will be a home contest against Breaux Bridge.