William Weathers, Special to the American Press

BATON ROUGE — Second-seeded Parkview Baptist went from one extreme near the end of the second quarter to another in the final 8 minutes of play.

The Eagles, whose early twotouchdown lead was whittled to three points after back-to-back interceptions, got a key blocked punt from senior Ian Pourciau with 8:47 to be played in the game, igniting a stretch of 20 unanswered points for a 34-10 victory Friday over No. 10 St. Louis in opening round of the select Division II state playoffs.

Parkview Baptist (7-2) turned exclusively to its rushing attack in the second half with Jeremiah Deverteuil and wide receiver-turned-running back Andre Haynes — both of whom rushed for more than 100 yards and combined for three touchdowns.

The Eagles travel to reigning state champion and second-seeded St. Thomas More in next week’s state quarterfinals in Lafayette.

How it was won

Pourciau’s key play came after Parkview suffered its fourth consecutive turnover — two interceptions and a pair of fumbles.

Sam Hodges and Brandon Favre combined for a sack of St. Louis quarterback Cooper Miller, pushing the Saints (2-6) back to their 33 when Pourciau stormed through the middle to block Watson’s punt which Stone Town recovered at the Saints’ 22.

That triggered a flurry of three touchdowns with Deverteuil scoring from 2 yards out, Haynes (11-116) scoring on a 37-yard run with 2:45 left and Micah Thompson adding his second score of the game with a 50-yard interception return with 1:08 to play.

With Parkview Baptist, having scored on its first two series, the Eagles appeared prime for a threescore lead when St. Louis’ defense cashed in two interceptions into 10 points over a 4-minute stretch and cut PBS’ 14-0 lead 14-10 at halftime.

Evan Joubert (17-71) scored on a 14-yard stretch play with 1:17 left in the second quarter and it was Joubert’s 22-yard return of an interception by Roman Mula, who made his first appearance in three weeks after suffering a foot injury, that led to Jack Watson’s 29-yard field goal on the final play of the half.

Player of the game

Jeremiah Deverteuil, Parkview Baptist: With leading rusher Isaac Ponder out with an injury, Deverteuil turned into a workhorse for Parkview with a team-high 26 carries for 119 yards and a 2-yard TD run that helped the Eagles regain control at 21-10 with 7:26 remaining in the game.

They said it

“I walked in at halftime and told the guys that was on me, I need you to bail me out. We said we wanted to keep pounding it, let’s make it a physical game and leave it up to our running backs and our guys up front. They responded and defensively, credit to our staff for making the adjustments they made.”

— Parkview Baptist coach Stefan LeFors

“It (the blocked punt) definitely helped set us up. We were running block all week, so we knew if we got a shot we were going to get it. We got through, got it and it helped set us up for the touchdown, then the pick and helped us close that game out.”

— Parkview Baptist linebacker Ian Pourciau

Notable

• The last time Parkview and St. Louis met in the playoffs, the Eagles took a 41-16 victory en route to a state championship.

• Parkview Baptist kickoff specialist Jack Herrington recovered a fumble on the ensuring kick after the Eagles’ opening score. Micah Johnson caused a fumble after a 31-yard return by Evan Joubert to midfield.STL Chase Wilson catches the deep reception in front of Iowa’s Crajuan Bennett during their game at Iowa High School in Iowa, La., Friday, Nov. 20, 2020.

Rick Hickman/Lake Charles Americ