No Ju’Juan Johnson? No problem.
There’s no doubt that Lafayette Christian Academy will miss their record setting former starting quarterback, but with the Braylon Walker era beginning, the Knights seem like they will be just fine. They didn’t skip a beat on offense today, as the Knights only punted once all game to the tune of 38 total points and a 17 point victory over Carencro.
This was a big game for both teams. Both LCA and Carencro lost by one possession in week 1 to two of the best teams in the state (Rummel and STM respectively), and for a pair of teams that have aspirations to get to the Superdome in December, going 0-2 was not a reality either wanted to face. LCA was able to avoid that reality, but Carencro and star do-it-all quarterback Chantz Babineaux will have to wait at least one more week to get into the win column.
One of the many themes of this game was the impact that special teams made. The scoring started when a Chantz Babineaux punt (yes, punt) was returned by Calvin Parker 65 yards for a LCA touchdown, making the score 7-0.
This was the biggest splash special teams made on the game, but it was also the only splash that went LCA’s way. The Knights made that extra point, but would finish the game 2/6 on PATs throughout the game, and this would have been severely damaging to them had a few plays gone a different way throughout. On top of that, the ensuing kick off after this touchdown was taken into LCA territory by Brian Angelle (who was out deep to receive kicks for Carencro alongside…Chantz Babineaux), which led to a Carencro touchdown to tie up the game. This was the first of two LCA kickoffs that were returned by Angelle into LCA territory, which led to numerous squibs by the LCA kickoff team throughout the rest of the game.
This didn’t phase the Knights for long though as their offense started to roll. The LCA offense finished the game with an impressive level of efficiency, going 11/13 on 3rd down throughout the game. Their run game in particular was brutally effective, totaling 251 yards. Braylon Walker looked like a true dual threat today, making plays with both his arm and his legs. He had 14 carries for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground, and had an explosion through the air when he found wide receiver Brayden Allen for a 47 yard bomb in the 2nd quarter to extend the lead.
Walker was great today, but running back Jalen Noel was the true motor behind this offense. Noel carried the ball 26 times for 134 yards, most of which came from their final drive of the game. Up 11 points with 9 minutes to go, the Knights trusted their O-Line and top back to slam the door shut, and they did just that. They had a 6 minute touchdown drive almost entirely off the legs of Noel, capped off by 7 yard touchdown run.
Despite all the success LCA found on offense, this game was not a blowout. This is because Carencro brought quite a bit of firepower themselves, especially from Chantz Babineaux. He was everywhere today: he played quarterback, ran the ball a lot, kicked, punted, and did returns. On top of all of that, they even had a package where a different quarterback would come in and he would play wide receiver. They specifically had him doing a jet motion pre-snap before running various routes. He had a catch in this game and was targeted a few times on top of that.
It worked too, as Babineaux was the catalyst for the most exciting stretch of this game. Carencro got the ball to start the half down 20-7. After a few plays, Babineaux threw an interception to Chris Helaire, who returned the ball 50 yards the other way to score an LCA touchdown, extending the lead to 26-7, and threatening to turn the game into a blowout. Chris Helaire moved to 3rd all time in LCA history with 9 interceptions with this pick.
Down 19 and realizing every possession needed to count if they wanted to get back into this game, Carencro decided to turn to a more ground-and-pound attack. It worked as the Golden Bears converted multiple short 3rd downs and punched the ball in with a short Tevontrey Jackson touchdown to make it 26-14. On LCA’s next possession, Braylon Walker fumbled the ball and gave it right back to Carencro.
Just 3 plays later, Chantz Babineaux made LCA pay with an explosive 46 yard touchdown run. All of a sudden, with practically a snap of a finger, a game that looked like it might turn into a snoozer was a one possession game again, and the momentum was completely on Carencro’s side.
The two 3rd down conversions for LCA in the drive after the Babineaux run decided the game. Noel taking over later in the game is what iced it, and there were plenty of great plays for both sides that got us here; but these were the game-defining moments.
Only up by 5 and with suddenly everything unraveling around them, LCA was faced with 3rd and 5 in their own territory. If they came up short, the Knights would have had to punt the ball back to Chantz Babineaux (literally since he was the punt returner) and give Carencro the chance to take the lead. Instead, Braylon Walker rolled to his right and found Calvin Parker for 22 yards and a key LCA first down. That’s not the kind of play that shows up on your twitter feed, but its impact can not be overstated.
Later in the same drive, LCA was faced with a similarly tough situation. Facing 3rd and goal on the Carencro 5, LCA needed to score here or be faced with a dilemma. Do you try to kick a field goal with your unreliable kicker to make it an 8 point game, which is still just one possession? Or do you go for it and risk coming up short, giving Carencro the chance to take the lead? Luckily for the Knights, they didn’t have to worry about that as Walker’s heroic effort willed LCA into the endzone and got a much-needed answer to the onslaught that the Golden Bears had just unleashed.
LCA moves to 1-1 on the season and will travel to Westgate next week. Unfortunately for Carencro, it doesn’t get any easier after their 0-2 start as they have to travel to Zachary next week. For more coverage on both teams as well as everything else high school football, make sure to stick around at https://gridironfootballusa.com/
You can check out our interview with LCA Head Coach Zach Lochard here!
