Livonia avoids Baker’s ‘trap’
BAKER — Fresh off a victory last week against rival Catholic-Point Coupee and a date with Brusly next week, Livonia coach David Brewerton wanted to avoid falling into a trap against Baker on Friday night.
With 272 yards of total offense and three first-quarter touchdowns, Livonia evaded the letdown with a 45-6 victory against the Buffaloes. Marquis Beauvais led the way with 73 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
The Wildcats relied on two quarterbacks — Ben Todd and Kerry Savoy — who combined to throw for 112 yards.
“We wanted to be real business-like in our approach,” Brewerton said. “We just wanted to make sure we didn’t get caught up in a trap game. I wanted to make sure we stayed focused and gave a good performance.”
Baker managed just 99 yards of total offense, and two interceptions proved costly. Michael Gosserand paced the Buffaloes offense with 93 all-purpose yards.
“We just have a young football team that hasn’t grasped what we’re doing yet,” Baker coach Richard Oliver said. “We just have to continue to work.”
Baker helped Livonia in the first half by giving the Wildcats solid field position, with four of their five scoring drives starting in Baker territory. After Malcolm Dedrick intercepted Baker quarterback Treylon Anderson, Livonia started its opening possession from the Baker 41-yard line.
Following two carries totaling 13 yards by Beauvais, Todd found Brandon Armand for a 17-yard completion. Two plays later, Beauvais carried it in for a 4-yard touchdown.
A botched punt set up Beauvais’ next touchdown, a 12-yard run. After a 41-yard punt return by Darrius Hammond, Beauvais found the end zone for the third time in the first quarter — this time from a yard out.
“He really looked like he had a burst tonight,” Brewerton said of Beauvais. “We haven’t been running the ball well. It’s something we really tried to push all week, and it worked well for us tonight.”
Livonia scored twice more in the opening half, with touchdown runs by Russell Farris of 1 and 15 yards. Farris’ first touchdown came on a nine play, 90-yard drive in which he totaled 35 yards rushing. Kerry Savoy also had a 26-yard pass on the drive.
Livonia started the second half much like it did the first — inside Baker territory. A 63-yard kickoff return by Armand set up the Wildcats, and Beauvais carried it in from 6 yards to go ahead 39-0.
Baker responded with a nine-play touchdown drive that served as its only score of the game. Starting at the Livonia 43, Baker worked into the Wildcats’ redzone, where Dedrick Gourrier found Gosserand for a 14-yard touchdown pass.
“Our kids fought back in the second half,” Oliver said. “They were beating us pretty bad, but our kids hung in there in the second half.”
In the final minute of the game, Gage Garcia picked off Gourrier and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown.