BROUSSARD, LA — The First Baptist Christian School Eagles of Lafayette fell in their opening home game Thursday night to the Acadiana Christian School Lions, 30–6, in a physical matchup at the Broussard Sports Complex.
The Lions struck first, taking the opening kickoff deep into Eagle territory and scoring shortly after to grab an 8–0 lead heading into the second quarter. The Lions extended their lead to 14–0 on another touchdown, though the two-point conversion failed.
The Eagles answered when quarterback Judah Pritchard connected with Luke Page for a spectacular 33-yard leaping grab over a Lion defender with 5:17 left in the second quarter. The two-point try was stuffed, and Acadiana Christian maintained a 14–6 lead into halftime.
First Baptist opened the third quarter with a strong kickoff return of 35 yards into Lion territory. However, the drive stalled at the Acadiana Christian 32-yard line after a pass over the middle fell incomplete. The Eagles’ tough-hitting defense held and forced a fumble near their own 40. Momentum slipped away when the Lions’ defender made a leaping interception at the 38-yard line.
Acadiana Christian capitalized, delivering what proved to be the dagger drive. On a pitch option from quarterback Silas Johnson, No. 7 Kaleb Broussard broke two tackles and rumbled 42 yards to the end zone, putting the Lions ahead 22–6 with 8:28 left in the third quarter.
As the sun set over surrounding cane fields, so did the Eagles’ hopes of a comeback to the dismay of the Eagle faithful who turned out to support in numbers. The Lions iced the victory with a 44-yard touchdown run late in the game, finishing with a decisive 30–6 victory.
Reflecting upon the game, Eagles’ Head Coach Grayson Standiford described the game as “very hard hitting.” He saw positives with his defense, “I thought our defense played great for most of the game.” However, he regretted the Eagles offense could not “capitalize” on the defensive unit’s play.
Grayson also acknowledged his team’s support “Great crowd, the cheer squads were awesome in what was a awesome high school atmosphere.”
The Eagles, now 1-1, look to rebound next week as they travel to Lake Charles, LA to take on the Southwest Louisiana Home School Knights who defeated Freedom Life Academy 52-0.