By TJ Fontenot

LSN Sports

The Wolves’ looked to improve their game before the start of the regular season against the Abbeville Wildcats in the Acadia-Vermillion Jamboree hosted at Church Point High School Thursday night.

The Wolves received the ball first and moved the ball at will quickly into the red-zone. Rayne’s Brody Bourque then put Rayne on the board with their first possession with a four-yard touchdown run. Andrew Abshire’s extra point was good to put the Wolves ahead 7-0.

But, the Wildcat offense answered on a second and short situation with a 77-yard run for a touchdown. A trick play to get into the end-zone for a two point conversion placed Abbeville ahead 8-7 with eleven minutes left in the first half. Each team then had their chances to put more points on the board, but both had issues with penalties, which ended the first half at the same 8-7 Abbeville lead.

Abshire’s second half kick-off reached the end zone to put the Wildcats at their own 20-yard line to start their offensive possession. The Rayne defense came out strong to hold the Wildcats to zero yards and force a punt from the 20. Rayne received at their own 39 yard line and start another impressive drive. They converted third down situations and mixed up the play calling; but, after a penalty, Rayne was faced with a third and long where the heavy pass rush forced a fumble, seeing Abbeville recover at the Wildcat 35. The Rayne defense held strong again; but, after a third down stop, a penalty kept the Wildcat drive alive and the clock rolling.

The Abbeville offense then got a drive going and were threatening to extend their lead until faced with a fourth and short at the Rayne two yard line. The Wolf defense came up with a big stop to give the Rayne High offense another shot with under two minutes left in the game.

Rayne moved the ball again but the clock was their enemy, ending the game with the Abbeville Wildcats sneaking by with an 8-7 victory over the Wolves.

Leading the Wolves on the ground was Brody Bourque with 79 yards and one touchdown. Bourque was also the leading receiver racking up 30 yards all coming from Clerance Leger who was 4-8 with 35 yards through the air. Defensively, the Wolves were lead by Lacy Granger who recorded 6 tackles and 2 assists while sitting out the whole second half with a tender hamstring.

Ware was pleased with his team's Jamboree effort, "We really played hard and really wanted this game. These kids are so hard on themselves and were so disappointed after losing. I know its hard to accept but they just need to realize that we have a whole season ahead of us.”

The Wolves will host Rosepine on Friday, Sept. 3, in their regular season opener. Action begins at 7 p.m. at Wolf Stadium.