Fontainebleau sinks Mandeville in overtime

Fontainebleau High junior running back Perrin Sims tallied on a 10-yard run in overtime to spark the Bulldogs to a 19-16 victory over previously unbeaten Mandeville High to spoil the Skippers’ homecoming game Friday night.

Mandeville (5-1) is now 3-1 in district play, while Fontainebleau (4-2) evened its district mark at 2-2.

Sims took a pitch, and skirted around left end to seal the deal giving the Bulldogs a surprising District 6-5A victory over the Skippers.

Sims said it was his most memorable touchdown. He described his game-winning run.

“I was just going for the end zone,” Sims said. “It was a squeeze 47 toss. The hole was kind of closed up so I bounced out to the outside hoping I could shoot for the end zone and lead us to victory.”

Sims thanked the entire offensive line for their effort on his scoring jaunt.

“Beating an undefeated team means a lot to us. Coach Hudson said we had to believe. If we believe we can do it, we can do it,” Sims added.

Fontainebleau offensive coordinator Mike Woods said it was just one of the calls in the game.

“Perrin made the play. We wanted to go to him. We figured he could get into the end zone for us. He made a hell of a play,” Woods said.

Woods credited tight end Jordan Zulli and left tackle Evan Luke with getting the corner sealed on Sims’ run.

FHS head coach Gregg Hudson said when he saw Sims make his dip and then go to the outside on his winning run he figured he was probably 10 yards on the field when he crossed the end zone.

Hudson said his guys fought all night. “We told our players to relax, have fun and see what happens.”

The game was tied 13-13 after regulation play. Fontainebleau won the coin toss deciding to let Mandeville have the ball first from the 10-yard line in overtime.

On first down, MHS senior quarterback Andy Bertoniere misfired on a pass. While lined up in the shotgun aligning his personnel, the ball was snapped, and went past him. The ball was recovered on the 22-yard line.

On third down, Bertoniere tried to hook up with Brandon Weeden on a fade pattern in the right corner of the end zone, but the ball fell incomplete.

Skippers junior place kicker Matt Dombrowski that had earlier connected on two field goals from 35 and 37 yards, was called upon to kick a pressure packed 40-yard field goal.

He split the uprights to give Mandeville a 16-13 advantage. The Skippers lead didn’t last long as Sims used his speed to get to the outside for the winning tally sending the Skipper faithful home on a sad note.

Mandeville coach Guy LeCompte said he had to give all the credit to Fontainebleau. “Their kids played really hard. You can’t take anything away from their players or their coaching staff. They did an outstanding job,” LeCompte said.

“I’m proud of my players. We had some mistakes, which caught up with us,” LeCompte added.

FHS got on the board first with a Hunter Starring 32 yard field goal with 6:34 left in the first quarter. The field goal was set up by a Jeremy Fos diving interception of Skippers’ starting quarterback John Wenzel, who ended up leaving the game late in the first quarter after injuring his right shoulder. Fos’ pick gave the Bulldogs the ball at their 42 with 9:11 on the clock. FHS quarterback Addison Melancon directed the Bulldogs to two first downs. Facing fourth-and-inches at the Mandeville 10, FHS was called for an off sides penalty. Starring entered the game connecting on the 32-yarder for the early lead.

Mandeville answered with a 13-play drive, finished off by Dombrowski’s 35-yard field to tie the score at 3-3 with 3:02 left in the first quarter. Three plays into the second quarter, Mandeville’s Bertoniere fumbled with Justin Church recovering at the FHS 49 with 10:32 on the clock.

Melancon engineered a 10-play drive, which was finished off by senior Clay Fritscher on a one-yard run with 6:41 left in the half. Starring tacked on the PAT for a 10-3 lead. Facing a second-and-nine from the Mandeville 22, Melancon hooked up with Jordan Zulli for a 21-yard gain to set up Fritscher’s score.

With just 1:02 left in the first half, FHS’ Thomas Babin picked off a pass returning it 31 yards to put the Bulldogs in business at the Skippers’ 30-yard line. Melancon hit Sims with a 20-yard gainer on first down. Sims was held to no gain on the next play. Then Fritscher, who finished with 50 yards on 14 carries, gained three yards. With time winding down, Melancon hustled to the line and downed the ball, stopping the clock with eight seconds. Starring got the call, and was true on a 24-yard field goal as time expired in the first half with the Bulldogs on top 13-3.

Mandeville got back into the game with Bertoniere finding Weeden on a 16-yard scoring strike with 4:23 left in the third quarter to cut the lead to 13-9 followed by Dombrowski’s point after. Bertoniere had a good night in relief of Wenzel, completing 14-of 29 passes for 229 yards with the one scoring toss. Weeden had five catches for 59 yards. Will Bunns caught six passes for 110 yards.

Mandeville held Fontainebleau on its next possession.

Following a punt, MHS took over at its 39 with 1:05 remaining in the third quarter. The Skippers picked up two first downs during the drive, which stalled at the FHS 20-yard line when MHS failed to convert on a third-and-four situation. Dombrowski drilled a 37-yarder to knot the game at 13-13 with 10:36 left in regulation play.

Mandeville’s defense forced a three-and-out. Fontainebleau’s punter Anthony LaGuardia was injured and was unable to punt. Fritscher took over, and got off a 41-yard punt.

MHS took over at its 37 with 9:56 left. The Skippers picked up a couple first downs, but then had to settle for a 49-yard attempt, which fell short and wide left.

Mandeville regained possession with 2:58 left in the fourth quarter. On third-and-nine FHS senior defensive end Gerald Gruenig, the Bulldogs’ sack leader, picked up his 10th of the season to stymie the Skippers. MHS punter Logan Sullivan booted a 46-yard punt with a nice roll to the Bulldogs’ 41 with 1:47 to play.

The Skippers’ Kentrell Thomas delivered a sack with help from Everett Ellefsen. Following a four-yard loss and a delay of game penalty, with just three seconds left, the Bulldogs’ Melancon ran out the clock to force overtime.

Gruenig said his club needed the victory big time.

“Hopefully this victory can keep us in the district race,” Gruenig said. “We were really confident at practice this week. We knew we were coming here underdogs, and nobody expected us to win. We needed to close it out, and we did it the right way.”