Barbe needed a huge defensive stop to avoid an 0-2 start and beat Lake Charles College Prep 34-28 at Cougar Stadium in the first regular-season meeting between the schools.

Barbe (1-1) avoided its first 0-2 start since 2015.

With 2:08 left, a bad snap led to a scramble for the ball. LCCP’s Elijah Williams recovered it at the Buc 39-yard line. A pair of 15-yard personal foul penalties set up LCCP at the Buc 15 with a golden opportunity after falling behind 27-7 in the third quarter. A nine-yard pass from Dylan Vital to Alijah Pete set up a 4-and-1 at the 6-yard line, but Barbe sophomore defensive lineman Conner Vallaire stuffed Pete, who was running out of the wildcat, a yard behind the line of scrimmage.

“It was a great stand there,” Barbe head coach Skeet Owens said. “There were a lot of mistakes, stuff we have to clean up.

“A win is a win. We will take it. Connor Vallarie made a great play inside. He made that tackle and saved the game for us.”

Barbe built up its three-possession lead on a mixture of running backs Eric Jones and Jordin Griffin and the arm of quarterback Jelandon Gray. The Bucs tied the game at 7-7 on a fourth down 28-yard touchdown pass from Grey to Landon Kirklin with 3:35 left in the first quarter.

Barbe scored twice in the second quarter on a 1-yard run by Jones and Luke Leger’s 35-yard reception.

Barbe’s Landyn Glyenn blocked a punt with 10:21 left in the third quarter, and Griffin scored seven seconds later to push the lead to 27-7.

But it didn’t take long for LCCP to get fired up as Carter ran the ensuing kickoff back 68 yards to cut the deficit to 27-14.

“All week, we knew No. 9 was explosive,” Owens said. “We told them to try not to let them beat us, and we kicked it to him.

“Of course, he busts one and gets them back in the game.”

The Trailblazers (0-2) scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns. Vital hit Carter for a 52-yard score and Kalen Antoine for 13 yards with 4:37 left in the game to pull within six points, 34-28.

Both teams were hampered by penalties. Barbe had 15 for 149 yards, while LCCP had 12 for 112 yards.

It was the second consecutive game that the Trailblazers had a chance to take the game over in the fourth quarter after a 31-20 loss to Westgate last week. It is the first 0-2 start of the Trailblazers since 2016 when they were in Class 1A.

“We made too many mistakes early,” LCCP head coach Erick Franklin Sr. said. “It cost us the game. It is the small things and the details that we messed up on today.

“We have to keep going. We had a good game plan. We have to get the kids locked in and get them in shape.”

Barbe 34

LCCP 28

SCORE BY QUARTERS

LCCP 7 0 7 14 — 28

Barbe 7 14 13 0 —34

SCORING SUMMARY

LCCP: Ayden Carter 11 run (Jonathan Martin kick)

BAR: Landon Kirklin 28 pass from Jelandon Gray (Jace Vasquez kick)

BAR: Eric Jones 1 run (Vasquez kick)

BAR: Luke Leger 35 pass from Gray (Vasquez kick)

BAR: Jordin Griffin 13 run (kick failed)

LCCP: Allen Botley 68 kickoff return (Martin kick)

BAR: Jones 1 run (Vasquez kick)

LCCP: Carter 52 pass from Dylan Vital (Martin kick)

LCCP: Kalen Antoine 13 pass from Dylan (Martin kick)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING — Lake Charles College Prep: Alijah Pete 3-0, Allen Botley 14-46, Ayden Carter 3-19, Dylan Vital 4-(minus-18), Benjamin Williams 1-7, Kylon Guillory 2-1. Barbe: Eric Jones 23-86, Landon Kirlin 1-(minus-3), Jelandon Gray 6-2, Jordin Griffin 6-93.

PASSING – Lake Charles College Prep: Vital 15-26-0—187. Barbe: Gray 9-14-0—130.

RECEIVING — Pete 8-65, Kalen Antoine 2-24, Williams 2-23, Botley 1-22, Carter 2-63. Barbe: Jones 3-17, Luke Leger 3-58, Kirklin 3-55.