2002 Red Devil Football Articles


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No. 1 Port Barre edges Livonia in fourth quarter, 24-14
Daily World by Mel LeCompte Jr. / Article originally published October 19, 2002

PORT BARRE - This is as close to a heart attack as Port Barre fans wanted to get.

Friday night, their Red Devils - whose average margin of victory in their first five games was 30 points per game - outscrapped the Livonia Wildcats (2-5) on Friday by a relatively modest 24-14 scoreboard.

David Gremillion

Livonia's Ronald Vaughn gets past Port Barre defender Chris Keys Friday night in Red Devils Stadium. The Wildcats (2-5) brought the game to a 14-14 tie in the fourth quarter against the state's top 2A team, before a final 10-point Red Devil rally.


Port Barre (6-0, 2-5 in District 6-2A) usually is content to out fresh laundry in the second half. However, the reserves were on the sidelines for this one, biting their nails along with the coaches, as the game stood knotted 14-14 in the fourth quarter.

"A game like this you set yourself up to get upset," Port Barre head coach Donnie Perron noted. "They (Livonia) didn't do things to beat themselves."

"When we were tied up," he credited, "(our players) didn't hang their heads."

The last time Port Barre's first string services were required the entire game was against Jeanerette three weeks ago, Perron recalled.

"This (game against Livonia) was definitely the game we had to play the longest and hardest."

The crystal ball was especially kind to Livonia in the first half. Their linebacker corps, led by three-year starter Brian Spragis, kept their sights firmly on the Devil duo of Abdule Levier and Daniel Francis. Meanwhile, the safeties were jumping on hunches to fill in the gaps.

"They (Livonia) did a good job of mixing up the fronts," Coach Perron complimented. "They moved the strong safety right one play, left the next. They did a good job of guessing our plays through the first half."

Before halftime, Francis was held to only 23 yards rushing, while Levier managed 37. Port Barre could not penetrate the end zone until 33 seconds before intermission.

They had to go to the air to do it, too, as quarterback Chris Keys connected on three consecutive screen passes. The third toss went to Francis from 21 yards out, allowing him to give the Devils a 7-0 midpoint lead.

The third quarter began as the second quarter ended - with number 22 past the pylons. At the 8:35 mark, Francis trotted in from 11 yards out to stretch the lead to 14-0.

Livonia failed to make much noise on the following posession, and resigned themselves to the punting squad. But the Devils' possession wouldn't last long, as Levier coughed up the pigskin at the Port Barre 33.

The Wildcats set up a nine-play, 67-yard drive aided in part by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike flag against Port Barre, and ending on a 19-yard dash by running back Jamie Leonard.

In their next turn, Port Barre found themselves unable to move the chains. A snap snafu on fourth prevented the Devils from following through on the punt, and Livonia took over on the PBHS 38.

Once again, the Devils found themselves on the wrong end of the yellow hankies. Their second unsportsmanlike call of the night, plus a pass interference call, put Leonard on the runway for another score. His 1-yard push evened up the scoreboard with 9:28 left in the game.

Two minutes later, Francis broke his longest run of the night, a 34-yard sprint that went past the pylons and gave the Red Devils a 21-14 edge.

With 3:02 left, Port Barre kicker Cade Hollier added a three-point insurance policy from 22 yards out.

Livonia came close to outrushing the Devils, with a 199-yard output.

Francis donated 127 yards to his team, while Leviere put in 79 and Keys 6, as Port Barre netted 212 ground yards.

The Red Devils (6-0, 2-0 in 6-2A) travel to Sacred Heart-Ville Platte Friday.


 
 
 
 
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