Rayne Wolves handle Lakeshore Trojans, 49-18

RAYNE - With a first round win Friday over Lakeshore, the No. 7-ranked Rayne High Wolves reached one of their goals set for the 2016 football season -- a playoff win.
“And it only gets harder,” stated Rayne High Coach Curt Ware following the Wolves’ dominating 49-18 win. “Tonight was great and everyone played well. But, when you get to this stage, those become harder to come by.
But, Friday’s win over the No. 26-ranked Trojans, the Wolves made winning look easy.
On their very first drive of the ballgame, runs by Trent Winbush, Johnny Deculit and Darien Harmon saw a 78-yard drive capped off with a Winbush TD run. Morgan Manuel’s extra point put Rayne ahead 7-0 where they remained for the remainder of the contest.
Following a three and out by the Rayne defense, the Wolves finished the first quarter on a 54-touchdown pass from Donald Doucet to Darien Harmon. Manuel’s extra point saw the Wolves advance their lead to 14-0 as they entered the second quarter of play.
Lakeshore added their only points of the first half with a 24-yard fieldgoal as the score sat at 14-3 behind a stiff Rayne defense.
The Wolves finished the first half with a touchdown by Winbush and an extra point by Manuel for a 21-3 lead for the halftime break.
“Scoring early on in the second half really sparked our guys,” according to Ware. “They really gained some confidence to keep putting points on the board.”
On the opening drive of the second half of play, Doucet found Jaylon Reed for a 44-yard completion, setting up a five-yard TD run by teammate Darien Harmon. Another extra point by Manuel saw Rayne extend their lead to 28-3 with plenty of playtime remaining in the second half.
On a short-lived Lakeshore drive, compliments of a quarterback sack by Antonio Gabriel, tackle for a loss by Torin Benoit and a deflected pass by Reed, saw the Wolves gain possession once again for another score.
A Rayne drive saw Doucet hit the air once again connecting with Reed, setting up runs by teammates Harmon and Winbush, before a Doucet run setup an Antonio Gabriel touchdown run.Manuel split the uprights for his fifth extra point and a 35-3 Rayne lead.
Midway through the third quarter Lakeshore scored their first touchdown of the ballgame, a Chris Penton touchdown pass to Desmon Labostrie. A two-point conversion saw the Rayne lead cut to 35-11 as the teams head into the final quarter of action.
Zack Fontenot and Reed recorded deflected passes, while Reed and Cameron Gibson each  nabbed interceptions on the next two Lakeshore drives, resuting in Rayne final two touchdowns of the ballgame.
Winbush struck from four yards out, followed by a 12-yard Harmon TD run setup two additional Manuel extra points for a 49-11 Rayne lead with only two minutes remaining.
Within those two minutes, Lakeshore saw Randy Raymond reach the endzone on a 63-yard TD run and a 49-18 finale.
Of Rayne’s almost 500 total offensive yards, rushing totals were led by Trent Winbush with 15 carries for 124 yards and three touchdowns.
Darien Harmon recorded 98 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns.
Donald Doucet added two carries for 44 yards, while Johnny Deculit had eight carries for 40 yards. Antonio Gabriel’s lone carry of the night resulted in a touchdown.
Doucet has three completions on the night for 118 yards and a completion.
Reed recorded two pass completions for 64 yards, while Harmon connected on one for a 54-yard touchdown.
Leading the Rayne defense were Darien Harmon with 8.5 tackles and 7 solos along with 2 tackles for a loss.
Antonio Gabriel, Tony Roberts and Cameron Gibson tabbed 5.5 tackles each, along with 3 solos.
Johnny Deculit and Marlon Foreman turned in 4.5 tackles, while Zach Fontenot, Jaylon Reed and Torin Benoit each tallied 3.5 tackles and two solos.
“I feel their offense was good coming into tonight, but our defense just played that much better,” Ware noted of his team’s overall play. “But, I knew we were ready to play with this week’s practice. They were ready to get out here and put a ‘W’ up there.”
“I like our chances next week, actually whoever we play,” according to Ware. “Our guys are ready and willing. Time will tell.”
The Wolves will meet No. 10-ranked Benton who defeated No. 23-ranked A.J. Ellender, 63-28. Rayne will host the Tigers on Friday with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. at Wolf Stadium.