Mandeville takes sole possession of first place

Mandeville senior running back Will Bunns had the game of his career on senior night as he maneuvered his way for 200 yards on 28 carries, scoring both touchdowns and sparking his Skippers to a 14-7 victory over the game Northshore Panthers on Halloween night at Skipper Stadium.

MHS (7-1) moved to 5-1 and earned at least a tie for the District 6-5A title with one game left against Covington at Jack Salter Stadium. NHS (6-2) is 4-2 in district play, tied for second with Slidell and St. Paul’s. Northshore hosts cross-town rival Slidell Tigers this week.

Bunns (5-7, 150) came up with clutch runs in key situations to move the chains for the Skippers.

“All I gotta say is thanks to my o-line. They opened up the holes, and I just hit them. My hats off to the offensive line, give them the credit,” Bunns said.

“This is the biggest game of my high school career.”

MHS coach Guy LeCompte said he was proud of the offensive line’s performance along with the exceptional game by Bunns.

“I’m proud of the offensive line for stepping up. Again the defense and the coaches have done a great job. I can’t

say enough about our defense the way they have played all year long,” LeCompte said.

Even though LeCompte’s club earned a share of the district title with the victory, the perfectionist coach pointed out there is one game left to earn an outright title.

MHS senior quarterback Andy Bertoniere, who connected on eight-of-20 passes for 144 yards, hooked up with Bunns on a 24-yard scoring toss with 4:15 remaining in the opening quarter. Matt Dombrowski tacked on the extra point to give the Skippers a 7-0 lead.

Mandeville took over on its second possession at its 11-yard line. Bunns picked up 4 yards on first down followed by an incompleted pass. Bunns reeled off a 46-yard gainer down to the Northshore 39. The Panthers were flagged for a personal foul at the end of the run moving the ball to the 24. Bertoniere found Bunns, and he did the rest putting the ball in the end zone to finish off the four-play, 89-yard drive.

Northshore’s junior quarterback Jervious Epherson, who finished 14-of-24 for 171 yards, took his Panthers on a seven-play, 75-yard drive on the next possession. Epherson capped off the drive by hitting pay dirt from 36 yards out with 1:14 left in the opening quarter. He went around the right side before making a nice cutback move to outrun the MHS defense for the score. Tyler Foltz booted the point after to tie the game 7-7.

Epherson was the Panthers’ leading ball carrier with 93 yards on 20 carries.

Northshore forced a Mandeville punt on a three-and-out on the next series. The Panthers took over at their 40 with just 10 seconds left in the first period. NHS picked up three first downs but came away without any points. Foltz attempted a 38-yard field goal, which was blocked by the Skippers’ Hayden Harper to keep the game tied at 7-7.

Mandeville took over at its 20 followed the blocked field goal attempt with 9:02 left in the first half.

Bunns, who was the only Skipper runner to carry the ball, carried three consecutive times. He picked up a first down converting on a third-and-one from the 29 with just under eight minutes to play in the half. After an incompletion, Bertoniere found Elijah Levee´ on a 23-yard strike. Bunns gained 2 yards followed by another 23-yard hook up with Levee´ moving the ball down to the Panthers’ 18 with 6:30 left. Bertoniere linked up with Levee´ on a 4-yard reception, setting the stage for the elusive Bunns to turn on his after burners. Bunns burst up the middle untouched scampering into the end zone from 14 yards outs. His run finished off nine-play, 80-yard drive with 5:44 to go in the half. Dombrowski was true on the extra point to make it 14-7, which ultimately closed out the scoring.

The statistical battle was extremely close in the first half with Mandeville gaining 180 yards on eight first downs, while Northshore picked up 173 yards and nine first downs. Bunns totaled 106 yards on 13 carries in the half for the Skippers, while Bertoniere added 74 yards through the air.

Northshore passed for 90 yards with Epherson hitting on seven-of-13 tosses. The Panthers rushed for 83 yards in the first half.

With 1:54 left in the third quarter, Mandeville punted on a fourth-and-one. Skipper punter Logan Sullivan got off a nice punt, which was downed at the Northshore 6 with 1:33 to go in the third period.

Epherson engineered a 10-play drive. He hit Andrew Cosse´ for 2 and found Archie Ambo for 41 on a nice reception getting both feet down before going out of bounds at the Panthers’ 49. Later in the drive, facing fourth-and-one from the MHS 31, senior Channing Wise, who was bottled up most of the night, pushed ahead for 2 yards to convert for a first down. Epherson tried to hit Jimmy Wentworth, but Mandeville senior cornerback Jerry Mitchell made a break on the ball and intercepted the pass at the 2-yard line. He returned it 19 yards with 9:27 left.

“I saw the quarterback (Epherson) kind of eyeing the receiver as he was scrambling around,” Mitchell said. “I got off my receiver, and I just got in between both of the receivers. As he threw it, I just broke on the ball as fast as I could, and came up with the interception.”

Mitchell said the victory was a great accomplishment on senior night.

“It was a great way to end the last regular season home game. We just have to go out and close the district title against Covington next week,” Mitchell said.

Following the interception, MHS picked up two first downs before Bunns was stacked up in the middle after gaining a yard, then fumbling, with Northshore’s Taylor Eads recovering at the Panthers’ 43 with 7:15 left. Epherson linked up with Cosse´ on two straight completions. He finished with six catches for 52 yards. After picking up three first downs on the drive, the Panthers faced a fourth-and-eight from the MHS 21. Epherson was stopped just shy after picking up seven yards.

Mandeville took over at its 14 with just 3:18 to play. Bunns came up big in the clutch, carrying the ball five consecutive times, including a backbreaking run of 48 yards to the Northshore 34 with just 2:20 left. After picking up another first down on a 12-yard burst by Bunns on his final carry, which was followed by a kneel-down by Bertoniere to close out the contest.

NHS coach Mike Bourg said his club didn’t take advantage of some opportunities on offense.

“We had people open on that last drive, but we couldn’t find them. When we go back and look at the film we are going to see that we had people open,” Bourg said.

Northshore played the game without two junior starting offensive linemen, center Marvin Abney and right tackle Jonathan Rigney, which hurt the Panthers not being able to establish their running game with Wise.

Panthers’ senior outside linebacker Chris Ruiz said his club had chances to score.

“We had opportunities, but we couldn’t come through. As a defense, we didn’t do our jobs,” Ruiz said.

“Offensively, they were going with what was working. We were blitzing and gambling. When you blitz and gamble there are spots that are open and they hit them,” the senior linebacker added.