A near miss for LC College Prep as historic season comes to end for Blazers
Rodrick Anderson
FARMERVILLE — The road finally ended for Lake Charles College Prep Friday in the Class 3A semifinals, a game short of their ultimate goal of the Prep Classic.
The No. 3 Trailblazers went ahead 42-35 with under two minutes left, but the No. 2 Union Parish Farmers took the lead back with 20 seconds after a gutsy 2-point conversion play call to win 43-42.
“It was a hard game,” LCCP head coach Erick Franklin said. “It is about details.
“We didn’t take care of the details tonight overall. It just caught up with us. We didn’t take care of the small things. The two-point conversion, I called the pass to No. 18. We knew the last play, and our kids failed to make the play.”
The loss ended the greatest season in program history for the Trailblazers who went from winless to the semifinals for the first time in program history in just six seasons.
“We had been preparing for this moment for a long time,” Franklin said. “We just came up short.
“We played a tough team like Union Parish, the field was terrible tonight, and it was a hard, rough night tonight. It has been a fun ride. I wanted this one so bad. It is what it is. We played hard tonight, and we came up short because of an undisciplined play at the end.”
The Farmers (11-0) got the ball back with 1:29 down 42-35 but got a big 42-yard reception on a screen play from Dentrell Franklin to move to the Trailblazers’ 15-yard line. Treyvion Holly punched it in from 1-yard out, and Union Parish decided to go for the win instead of a tie and overtime. Cole Dison found Rykel Wallace in the back right corner of the end zone to take a 43-42 lead.
LCCP (9-1) got off three plays in the final 20 seconds but couldn’t come up with the game-winner.
Despite going down with an injury late in the second quarter, LCCP quarterback Dillon Simon returned to lead the Trailblazers back from a two-score deficit in the second half. Simon completed 20 of 28 passes for 216 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Glynn Johnson was his top target with eight catches for 103 yards two touchdowns. Solomon Lewis caught six passes for 56 yards and two scores, and Quintorius Jones added six catches for 59 yards.
“The program is built around him (Simon),” Franklin said. “That guy is a warrior.
“McNeese has got them a stud, I will tell you that.”
Union Parish took a 35-21 lead with 6:48 left in the third quarter on a 2-yard run by Holly.
Simon responded with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Glynn Johnson then the defense stopped the Farmers’ attempt at a fake punt with 33 seconds left in the third quarter to get the ball at the Union Parish 28-yard line. Simon hit Solomon Lewis for a 10-yard score to tie the game at 35-35 15 seconds into the fourth quarter.
With 3:31 left in the game, Joe Ward recovered a fumble for the Trailblazers, and JaThan Royal scored on a 9-yard run to put LCCP up 42-35 with 1:29 left in the game.
Holly carried the ball 35 times for 168 yards and four touchdowns.
Rodrick Anderson/American Press