Mandeville’s Skippers gave the John Curtis Patriots, the Class 2A state runner up, all they could handle Thursday night in the season opener for both clubs.

It was a tremendous high school battle with John Curtis prevailing 21-20 in a nail biter played at Lakeshore High. The game was moved to Lakeshore due to the MHS field being refurbished.

John Curtis, which finished 13-1 last year, got all they wanted from a gutsy Mandeville squad (7-4). The Skippers battled from the opening whistle and would not go away.

Mandeville junior receiver Xavier Marcus hauls in a 16-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matt Bergeron in the first quarter of Thursday night’s season opener played at Lakeshore High School. The Skippers dropped a hard-fought 21-20 decision to the Patriots. (Photo by Mike McCall)

John Curtis got on the board first with senior Quincy Smith tallying on a two-yard run at the 4:03 mark in the first quarter, which capped off a 10-play 57-yard drive. Brandon Naumann’s PAT made it 7-0.

Mandeville answered with an 11-play, 65-yard march, which featured five first downs. Junior quarterback Matt Bergeron, who finished 15-of-21 for 149 yards, completed five passes on the drive. He converted on a key third-and-10 from the Curtis 31 when he hooked up with senior Elijah Levee´ for 16 yards to keep the drive alive. Levee´ finished with three catches for 40 yards and had another 28-yarder called back due to a procedure penalty. Bergeron closed out the drive hitting Xavier Marcus from 16 yards out for the score to cut the lead to 7-6. Skippers’ freshman place kicker Kyle Pellegrini added the PAT with 9:57 remaining in the second quarter.

Curtis fought back and retook the lead on its next possession. The Patriots drove 70-yards and were aided by two costly Skippers’ penalties. Senior RB Torrey Pierce, who led all rushers with 82 yards on 22 carries, scored from six yards out with 7:41 left in the half. Naumann’s point after made it 14-7.

Daniel DeMelo put the Skippers in great field position returning the second half kickoff 33 yards down to the Patriots’ 42.

Bergeron got the Skippers into the end zone, finding running back Charles Jones on a 16-yard scoring toss. Pellegrini’s PAT knotted things at 14-14 with 10:19 left in the third period.

Later in the quarter, following a seven-yard Skipper punt, the Patriots were in business at their own 38. Curtis went on a 14-play drive, aided by a critical pass interference call, with Pierce hitting pay dirt from one-yard out with 10:28 to play. Naumann’s point after gave the Patriots a 21-14 margin.

MHS’ DeMelo (5-9, 171) electrified the home crowd with a spectacular 83-yard kick off return. He took the ball at the 15 followed some good blocking and turned on the jets. He put a move on the kicker and headed up field down the right sideline before running out of real estate being brought down at the two.

“I thought I was going to get in. I guess I should have cut it back. I had a couple of good returns, which helped with field position,” DeMelo said.

In addition to his big return, he had two other run backs totaling 126-return yards, averaging 42 yards per touch. In addition to his clutch returns, he also hauled in four catches from Bergeron totaling 50 yards.

Coach LeCompte said DeMelo made some nice plays in the return game as well as at receiver.

“He made big contributions in all aspects,” LeCompte said.

DeMelo talked about handling the tough loss, but feeling good about the offense. “We were just one point away and it was a great game,” DeMelo added. “We’ll put this game behind us and get after it against Rummel next week.

On first-and-goal, following DeMelo’s clutch return, Jones was dropped for a four-yard loss. Bergeron then found Jones, who raced into the end zone with 9:15 left to make it 21-20. Unfortunately for the Skippers the snap on the extra point attempt was mishandled by holder Nick Morgan, who could only pick it up and try to make a play, rolling to his right. He lofted the ball in the end zone and was intercepted.

With 4:28 to go, Curtis took over at its 38. The Patriots ran out the clock, including converting on a crucial fourth-and-one from the MHS 42 with just 1:23 left. Pierce bull dogged his way for three yards enabling the Patriots to kill the clock.

Pierce talked about the big fourth down.

“The defense overloaded to the left side. The hole was there and our quarterback (Brandon Bourgeois) made a good check. We just have to continue to work hard each week. We just want to get better each day,” Pierce said.

“Mandeville played a real good game. Defensively, they closed the gaps really good,” Pierce added.

Head coach J. T. Curtis, in his 42nd season said Pierce is a great back, who truly competes.

“He does a great job of making people miss, but he also does a great job from a leadership perspective,” Curtis said.

Curtis said he knew coming in Mandeville would be a good football team.

“They throw and catch the ball well. They have big receivers, who can catch and run with the ball. Their running back (Charles Jones) is a good player,” Curtis said. Curtis said DeMelo’s long kick return hurt his club.

“There is no excuse for that. We have to get that corrected. We also had some fumbles we lost that took field position away from us and gave them some breath,” Curtis added.

“I can take nothing away from the Mandeville football team. They are well coached and they are a physical team,” Curtis said.

MHS head coach Guy LeCompte praised his team.

“I’m absolutely proud of the team’s effort and have been since the spring. This group has a whole different attitude since the end of last season after the Westgate game (21-14 loss in the bi-district round),” LeCompte said.

“We were a couple mistakes away from winning the football game. We needed to capitalize on some turnovers,” LeCompte said.

MHS made two nice strips after Curtis picked up a couple first downs.

“This game is over and Rummel was in the Superdome last year (30-0 loss to West Monroe). Right now our focus shifts to them. We’ll roll up our sleeves and get ready,” LeCompte said.

LeCompte said defensive coordinator Craig Jones did an outstanding job.

“I can’t say enough about what Craig means to our program,” LeCompte said.

Jones said he was proud of his defensive unit.

“We had a lot of question marks two weeks ago and in the last two weeks we’ve grown up a lot. They made adjustments on the fly,” Jones said.

MHS senior linebacker Austin Roy was one of a number of Skippers’ defenders who excelled in the game. Roy finished with nine solo tackles and logged three assists.

“We were prepared but made a few mistakes and gave up a couple big plays. When we made our adjustments everybody caught on so we didn’t miss a beat,” Roy said.

Junior Jerry Peterson was also credited with nine solos and three assists. Junior linebacker Sam McGivern also came up big with eight individual tackles and five assists. He also recovered a fumble. Junior linebacker Timmy Broussard contributed six solos and three assists, while forcing a fumble. MHS senior Chris Knight made three individual stops and two assists along with a key fumble recovery.