Menard's defense holds to preserve win against Tioga
LaMar Gafford
lgafford@thetowntalk.com, (318) 487-6352
When it needed a stop the most, the Menard defense delivered.
As Logan Dubois' 44th pass fell harmlessly to the turf with five seconds remaining, the Eagles finally had a chance to celebrate their 21-19 victory against Tioga Friday night.
"Our defense played well all night," Menard coach Joel Desselle said. "I don't think they had many rushing yards, but their quarterback and their receivers did a tremendous job tonight. They made some great catches, but our defense kept us in the game. We did enough offensively to score points to win it and it was tough."
Junior running back Landon Baronne, who returned from an injury Week 4 against General Trass, rushed for 108 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries to help the Eagles go to 5-0 for the first time since 2011.
"I'm just glad to be back from my injury," Baronne said. "I played last week and I was about 40 percent, but I came back this week and feel so much better. Hopefully, I feel better next week, but it feels great to be back."
Menard (5-0) struggled on the run in the first quarter, but once Baronne got warmed up, his team followed suit.
The junior scored on runs of two and 38 yards to give the Eagles a 14-7 halftime lead and his one-yard plunge with 9:56 left in the game put them up 21-10.
However, the resilient Indians did not give up as Dubois, a junior, passed for 286 yards and two touchdowns on 25-of-44 aim.
"I was impressed with Logan tonight, but I am proud of our football team," Tioga coach Kevin Cook said. "They fought hard all night long and they overcame a lot of adversity."
Trailing midway through the fourth and forcing Menard to go three-and-out, Dubois found Markez Thomas on a two-yard pass to pull the Indians within two with 3:50 remaining.
However, Bryce Bordelon deflected the pass on the two-point conversion to preserve Menard's lead.
Tioga (1-4) had one last chance after stopping the Eagles near the goal line late, but were turned away by Eagle defense.
"They were just as tough as we saw on film," Desselle said. "I thought they matched up well against us. I watched them against Jena and they gave Jena all it could handle and they gave us everything we could handle tonight."
Both teams begin district play next week as Menard hosts Rosepine for homecoming, while Tioga welcomes West Ouachita.