Heading into the season, Notre Dame junior Braxton Meche was expected to provide change-of-pace depth behind senior tailback William Lavergne.
Lavergne, who led the charge at fullback last year for an offense that produced the area’s leading rusher in Joachim Bourgeois, has battled injuries, which thrust Meche into a more prominent role.
“Braxton has picked up some of the slack and really stepped up for us,” Notre Dame coach Lewis Cook said. “And he’s made the big play.”
With the Pioneers trailing Catholic New Iberia with less than two minutes remaining in Week 4, Meche caught a pass in the middle of the field, then juked past defenders for a 61-yard game-winning touchdown.
“In junior varsity games last year, we noticed that Braxton is a strong runner,” Cook said. “He always seemed to move the pile forward, and he has some speed.”
Meche (5-foot-11, 170 pounds) ran for more than 100 yards in weeks 4 and 5, and rushed for 93 and 94 yards in his two latest outings against Abbeville and Basile, respectively.
“He had some big runs in the Cecilia game,” Cook said. “(Braylon) Calais scored to make it a one-possession game. We came right back with a nice drive. Braxton carried it four or five times, and we scored.”
Lavergne, who had a huge performance in a Week 3 win over Teurlings Catholic, didn’t play last week, although he’s expected to get the green light in this week’s District 7-2A home contest against Lake Arthur (7-0, 2-0).
“We always try not to overload one back in the I-formation,” said Cook, who will also get star offensive lineman Brodie LeJeune back against Lake Arthur, which is No. 6 in the Division IV nonselect power ratings and has outscored its first two league opponents (Basile and Kinder) by a combined 102-7 margin. “I’ll tell you what, it’s been a really unusual year (with injuries). We played Cecilia without two of our starting offensive linemen and amazingly found a way to win.”
The Pioneers also lost 200-pound sophomore fullback Sam Prevost to an injury, which resulted in Jack Miller and tight end Gabe Smith taking snaps in the pivotal blocking position.
“I’m really proud of the kids,” Cook said. “Whoever has gone in has gotten the job done. If you told me we would have all these injuries, I would have never thought we’d be 7-0. The kids don’t hold back. They bow their necks and say, ‘Let’s go.’ “
The Pioneers are No. 1 in the power ratings of Division III select, which is jam-packed with parity with the likes of No. 7 University High (5-2) and No. 2 St. Charles Catholic (6-1) moving down from Division II.
Calvary Baptist (7-0), which defeated Notre Dame in last year’s semifinals, will be in the mix along with old district rival Lafayette Christian (5-2). Catholic New Iberia (4-3), Newman (6-1) and reigning champion Dunham (4-3), which is No. 10 in the power ratings, will make sure that Division III is exciting when the postseason comes around.
Lake Arthur features one of the state’s most productive running backs in Jaydon Prudhomme, who had rushed for 994 yards with 16 TDs entering last week’s 42-0 win over Kinder.
“We knew they had a lot coming back,” Cook said of the Tigers. “The running back has been giving people fits. They have two threats in the backfield with the quarterback, and they have a veteran defense with seven returning starters.”
Meche said that regardless of who is in the game, the Pioneers’ offensive philosophy remains the same.
“We just plan on getting the ball down their throat the entire time and wearing them down as much as possible,” he said.
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