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Rayne High's Jaylon Reed completes a catch during the Wolves' second round contest of the 4A state playoffs against Benton. The Tigers continued their post season with a 28-14 win over the Wolves. (Acadian-Tribune Photo by Lisa Soileaux)

Wolves fall short to Benton, 28-14

Tigers halt Wolves in state playoff run

RAYNE - Until Friday, No. 7-ranked Rayne High’s 2016 football season was full of ups, downs, and mostly breaks falling their way. That all changed when they hosted the No. 10 Benton Tigers in the second round of the 4A state playoffs.
You name it, it happened -- fake kick, long completions, and productive runs. But, most of those spectacular plays were either followed by an unwanted yellow field decoration or a miscue that resulted in a Benton advantage and a 28-14 Tigers win.
“We had a number of missed opportunities tonight, no doubt,” commented Rayne High Coach Curt Ware following Fridays loss. “A few times we were in position to score, especially in the first half, but we just couldn’t capitalize on them. We just fell a little short tonight.”
Ware continued, “Not taking anything away from them (Benton), they made things happen for the win. But, it’s still disappointing for our guys.”
The Wolves were the first to light up the score score on their first drive of the contest, a long drive capped off with a Daren Harmon 30-yard touchdown run. A Morgan Manuel extra point put the Wolves up 7-0 early on.
On Rayne’s next possession, what looked like another scoring drive, Donald Doucet made a completion to receiver Jaylon Reed near midfield, but was stripped by Benton for a fumble. The loose ball was scooped up by Tiger Sidney Smith for a 47-yard touchdown run. The extra point knotted the score at 7-all to finish the first quarter score.
The lone score to complete the first half came midway through the second quarter on a long Benton drive capped off with a Garrett Hable TD run. The extra point placed Benton up 14-7 and they remained ahead for the remainder of the ballgame.
With the first half ticking away, Doucet found Harmon for a 33-yard completion and a long run by Johnny Deculit placed the Wolves within striking distance. But, the Tigers’ defense held tough as the halftime buzzer sounded.
“The first half was our missed opportunity,” according to Ware. “We were there, within striking distance, and just couldn’t break through.”
“But, when you get to this stage of the season, you’re gonna come across teams that don’t allow you to play your game and that’s what happened tonight.”
The Wolves and Tigers split hairs in the third quarter, each touching their own endzones.
Benton saw Jermain Newton cut loose for a 40-yard touchdown run for a 21-7 Tigers’ lead.
Rayne answered with a long 91-yard drive complete with runs by Deculit and Harmon, and Doucet completions to Reed and Deculit. Trent Winbush returned from a first quarter injury to punch in a 13-yard touchdown run and Manuel split the uprights once again for a 21-14 score as the final quarter began.
The Benton offensive game saw an increase in their passing game as the fourth quarter opened play, setting up a 32-yard TD run by Garrett Habel. The extra point saw the Tigers increase their lead with a 28-14 score, the eventual finale.
A blocked Benton fieldgoal was recovered by Tony Roberts midway through the final quarter of play gave the Wolves some breathing room. But, a turnover near midfield saw the Wolves’ season slowly slip away.
Taking into account the Wolves accumulated over 400 offensive yards, 128 of those yards came on 22 carries by Darien Harmon who saw the endzone once.
Trent Winbush saw limited action due to an ankle injury early on, but was able to see the endzone once while making eight carries for 41 yards.
Johnny Deculit recorded 58 yards on eight carries and Donald Doucet scrambled twice for 12 yards.
Doucet led the passing duties with 11 completions for 200 yards on the night.
Harmon led in receptions with five completions for 74 yards, with Deculit pulling down two catches for 59 yards. Reed nabbed three receptions for 52 yards, followed by a catch by Winbush for 15 yards.
“Aside from tonight’s outcome, I’m proud of this group of kids,” Ware summed things up still feeling the sting of the loss. “This team never gave up and always left everything on the field. You love to see that in a team as a coach.”
“This summer they set goals for their season and they’ve accomplished most of them. I know they didn’t want to finish things out tonight. I also wish they could have played again next week. But, as the saying goes, ‘there’s only one happy team at the end of the season’ and that won't be us.”
The Wolves completed the 2016 football season one point shy of a perfect regular season, a 15-14 loss to LaGrange midway through the season. Entering post season with a 9-1 tally and a co-district champion patch, Rayne was able to crack the state’s top 10 midway through district and remained until this week. A few accomplishments for sure. Congrats, guys!

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