Ascension Catholic had a trio of first-half turnovers in a Division IV select quarterfinals matchup against Riverside Academy, but senior running back Chad Elzy made up for it.
Elzy finished with all six Ascension Catholic touchdowns in a 40-35 win over Riverside at Floyd Boutte Memorial Stadium on Friday night to advance to the semifinals.
Riverside scored first after the Bulldogs fumbled the opening snap, but Elzy answered with his first of four 50-plus-yard touchdown runs. The senior running back had 344 yards rushing and five touchdowns on 18 carries while also finishing with four catches for 12 yards and a score.
“Talk about oncoming adversity,” Ascension Catholic coach Lowell Narcisse said. “You turn the ball over three times in the first half and still give yourself an opportunity to go into halftime with a lead. I’m proud of our guys.
“(Elzy) showed why he’s one of the best players in the state. He did a phenomenal job and made plays when he needed to. I think tonight he put everybody on notice.”
Elzy’s sixth touchdown of the night from 77 yards out put Ascension Catholic up by two scores with 8:34 to go in the game.
“We knew we were going to have something great,” Elzy said. “Staying patient and waiting your turn. Waiting until you find that hole and just going.”
Riverside was able to cut the Bulldogs lead to five after Kendric Johnson found Chris Becknel for a 44-yard touchdown strike. The Rebels had one more chance to score and take the lead, but the Bulldogs defense prevented any last-second heroics after tackling Riverside running back Dedric Lastie as time expired.
“Our defense has been the strength of our team all year,” Narcisse said. “For those guys to come out there and get a stop when we needed to, they did what we asked them to do.”
Elzy ran in a 57-yard touchdown, a 48-yard touchdown and caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Bulldogs quarterback Camille LeBoeuf in the first half.
LeBoeuf finished with 121 yards passing and completed 9 of 14 passes for 121 yards. Trevin Simon led Ascension Catholic in receiving with 75 yards on four catches.
The second half began with Riverside tying things up at 21-21 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Montrell Henry that was aided by another Ascension Catholic fumble. The Bulldogs then got the lead back after Elzy ran in his fourth touchdown of the night from 53 yards out.
Henry caught a 15-yard pass from Bourgeois to tie the game at 28-28 with 11:52 in the fourth quarter. Elzy’s fifth score from 51 yards out gave Ascension Catholic a 35-28 lead with 10:22 to go, and they didn’t trail again the rest of the way.
Lastie had a Riverside-high 167 yards rushing on 20 carries. Johnson had four catches for 55 yards and a touchdown while also completing a pair of passes for 81 yards and a touchdown.
The No. 2-seeded Bulldogs will be back at home next Friday against No. 11-seeded Ouachita Christian. The winner will advance to the Division IV select state championship game at the Caesars Superdome.
“This is the opportunity for us to do something special,” Narcisse said. “Not just being good, let’s go be great. We took a step in the right direction.”