47 carries. After breaking the career total touchdowns record last week, Jonathan “Jon Jon” Dartez found his way into the record books again this week by having 47 carries, the most in a state championship game in the history of Louisiana. He needed every last one of those carries as Vermilion Catholic beat Ouachita Christian in a 33-21 game that was much closer than the final score indicates.
The first quarter was all Vermilion Catholic, literally. They held the ball for 10 of the 12 minutes in the quarter and came out of it leading 13-0. Much of that was spent on the game’s opening drive; a 16 play, 8 minute odyssey that saw Dartez set the tone with double digit carries and the game’s first touchdown. After a Ouachita Christian punt, it didn’t take Jon Jon nearly as long the second time around, as he broke free for an explosive 56 yard touchdown run. It looked like Vermilion Catholic might roll to yet another blowout win to cap off an impressive playoff stretch.
Then, right as we flipped fields and began the 2nd quarter, the game flipped as well. Luke Vidrine found Ridge Coats to take the top off the defense for a meteoric 75 yard touchdown pass to put Ouachita Christian right back in the game. On the ensuing Vermilion Catholic drive, Cole Eldridge makes a great play on the ball to pick Dartez off, which began yet another scoring drive for OC. Luke Vidrine found multiple chunk plays through the air, but the drive was finished at the goal line by GF All-American Bowl Game commit Makin Lenard. All of a sudden, Ouachita Christian took a 14-13 lead late into the half.
After the ensuing Vermilion Catholic drive stalled at midfield, it looked like Ouachita Christian might have a chance to extend their narrow lead. The long snap bounced off the ground and it looked like it might be blocked, giving OC a golden opportunity, but VC punter Ross Dartez became a hero of his own as he narrowly got the punt off. Then, things flipped entirely as Ouachita Christian was called for roughing the kicker, an automatic first down that converted a 4th and long into a renewed scoring opportunity for Vermilion. Dartez made them pay as he found Allen McLain in the endzone with less than 30 seconds to go in the half as VC shocking took the lead 20-14 at halftime.
The 3rd quarter had an exciting start as both defenses made impressive plays. Ouachita Christian began with the ball and continued where they left off in the 2nd quarter, driving right down the field. However, that momentum was cut short after Cameron Volion got the ball knocked out for a fumble recovered by Vermilion DB Ty Leblanc.
Just a few plays later, OC responded. Dartez went for the throat with a deep pass, but Ouachita responded with a turnover of their own, picking him off for the 2nd time in the game. This time, John Patrick Turpin made the impressive play to give OC the ball back.
The Vermilion defense keeps Ouachita at bay for the rest of the quarter, and Jon Jon led VC’s offense down for one final touchdown drive to cap off his illustrious career. He finished it with a passe Jyrin Bessard, who did the rest and gave Vermilion a 26-14 lead going into the 4th quarter. That was Dartez’s 179th total touchdown, the new career total TDs record in the state of Louisiana. He finished the game with 47 carries, 253 yards and 2 touchdowns rushing on top of completing 8 of his 11 passes for 82 yards and 2 additional touchdowns. Tack on his 19 return yards and he had 354 yards and 4 touchdowns in the game, a true superhero performance in the Superdome.
When it seemed like Vermilion Catholic was finally putting this game out of reach, Ouachita Christian came roaring back into the game. Luke Vidrine led another impressive drive to put OC back within one score, finishing with a pass to Cameron Volion.
Vermilion looked like they would seal it with their next drive as they got all the way to the 7 yard line before the drive stalled. On 4th and goal on the 7, VC decided to try to make it an 8 point game with a 24 yard field goal. Unfortunately, the field goal was wide right, and Ouachita had life again, as one last touchdown drive would now give them the lead.
This was the final drive. Starting with 3 minutes left, Vidrine led his offense down the field one last time. He found receivers to convert first down after first down as the clock continued to dwindle. When he scrambled to cross midfield, it started to sink in on the Vermilion Catholic sideline: the 47 carries Dartez left on the field today might not be enough, as he is forced to watch on the sideline and hope his defense can pull through with one last stop.
As they hit the redzone though, the opportunistic Vermilion Catholic defense finally bowed up, as they have all season according to Head Coach Broc Prejean. Ouachita Christian stalled right at the 21 yard line, which led to the final play. On 4th and 10 with 26 seconds left, Luke Vidrine threw up one last prayer, but VC DB Caleb Guidry intercepted the pass and ran it 86 yards the other way for a Vermilion touchdown at the buzzer. That play will live as a legend at Vermilion Catholic forever.
That pick-six gave us our final score of 33-21 in a game that was deceptively much closer than that final score indicates. Dartez walks off the Superdome field victorious, finally accomplishing the one thing he had not yet done in an Eagles uniform. Vermilion Catholic completes their undefeated season and wins their first state championship since 2013. Ouachita Christian finishes as the state runner up, making it their 5th time making the state championship game in the last 6 years.
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