Rosepine rallies for 27-9 win over DeQuincy

Published 5:55 pm Thursday, November 11, 2021

By Will Norris
ROSEPINE — It wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done.
Ethan Frey accounted for a pair of touchdowns, as did Grant Ducote as the Rosepine Eagles rallied for a 27-9 win over the DeQuincy Tigers on Friday at McKee-McCain Stadium, claiming the District 5-2A championship outright.
“I thought the kids played extremely well defensively,” Rosepine head coach Brad Ducote said. “DeQuincy had a great game plan and executed it well.”
The DeQuincy game plan was simple. The Tigers wanted to hold onto the ball and keep the high-powered Rosepine offense off the field.
The Tigers used a time-consuming drive to open the game, methodically moving the ball down the field, eventually reaching the endzone on a 3-yard plunge by Taije Ceasar for a 7-0 DeQuincy lead.
Rosepine (9-1, 5-0) responded with a quick drive of its own, ending with a 1-yard TD run by Grant Ducote for a 7-7 tie.
DeQuincy held onto the ball for a while, but the Rosepine defense kept the Tigers out of the endzone, taking over at its own 1.
On the ensuing play, the Tigers recorded a safety, taking a 9-7 lead. That was the score at the intermission as well.
Rosepine found its offensive rhythm in the third quarter as Frey scored on a 10-yard scamper and Ducote added a 60-yard TD as the Eagles moved out to a 21-9 lead going into the fourth.
The Eagles added a 22-yard TD pass from Frey to Cole Donahue to account for the final margin of victory.
“I thought when we had the ball, we made the most of it and scored,” Brad Ducote said. “This was a great win for our program heading into the playoffs.”
According to geauxpreps.com, the Eagles are expected to be a No. 8 seed in the Class 2A playoffs, likely facing the Kentwood Kangaroos at home in the first round. This would be the first meeting between the two teams since the first round of the Class 1A playoffs in 2002.
Frey was 11-of-13 passing for 109 yards and a touchdown with an interception, while also rushing for 66 yards and another score. Grant Ducote ran the ball 15 times for 161 yards and two TDs, running his season total to 32, easily a school record.