Late touchdown drive allows Eunice to sneak past Northwest | High Schools

With three minutes left and a perfect season on the line, the Eunice Bobcats and head coach Andre Vige felt an unfamiliar feeling.

Doubt.

This was, after all, the Northwest Raiders.

Familiarity between the Bobcats and Raiders runs deep. The rivals separated by a 20-minute drive face each other every season and typically end up in a close game.

So when Eunice went down 23-22 with 3:07 remaining following a 6-yard Jayden Lazard touchdown, surprise was hardly in the stadium.

But Eunice found a way again with senior running back Devontre Williams scoring two second-half touchdowns to lift the Bobcats to a 30-23 win.

“I love these guys,” Vige said. “They give me everything they have. We didn’t play our best game tonight, and (Northwest) was playing a little harder than us. But this team has resiliency and never gives up.”

Eunice struggled for yardage in the first half against Northwest’s defense.

Annual games breed familiarity, and Northwest knew what to expect early from Eunice.

“We see them every year,” Northwest coach Chris Edwards said. “They know what to expect from us, and it’s the same on their side. It was just keying in on those assignments.”

But when Northwest keyed in on the running game, Eunice used a pair of touchdown passes to take a 15-0 lead with 6:19 remaining in the first half.

The second pass, a 35-yarder from Beau Brown to Tyler Collins, was thrown into the wind and down the sideline.

“He’s got a pretty strong arm,” Vige said of Brown. “We thought (Collins) was wide open, but their defensive back closed on it and (Collins) made a great play.”

Northwest responded with a touchdown right before halftime, a 5-yard connection between quarterback Chase Dupre and Keadon Jenkins, and a Lazard 7-yarder to tie the game.

That’s when Williams sprung into action following an interception by Eunice junior cornerback Demarkis Williams, his younger brother.

Williams’ 53-yarder put Eunice up 22-15 with 11 minutes to go.

After the lead change and the winner, Williams gave all the credit to those around him.

“I’m just grateful,” he said. “This is a great group of guys who all want to work and block for each other.

“After all those losses, it’s fun to be winning these games with my guys.”