VC's defense shuts down St. Martin's five-star running back

Before Monday, few in Vermilion Parish had heard of St. Martin’s running Harlem Berry. So when the semifinal game against the Vermilion Catholic Eagles was over, Vermilion Parish residents were still unsure who Harlem Berry was.
Berry came into the game said to be a four- to five-star running back recruit, who was being billed as the top recruit for the 2025 graduating class. He is said to have scholarship offers from big-time schools such as Nebraska and LSU.
He averaged 178 yards a game and rushed for 2,000 yards this season.
Berry gained a dismal 60 yards on 24 carries by the time the game was over. He averaged just over two yards a carry and scored one touchdown.
Mission accomplished for VC’s defense once again.
“We limited the cutbacks as planned,” said VC middle linebacker Rhett Taylor. “We shut him down.”
VC free safety Rhett LeBlanc said, “I knew our defense could hold him. Our defense enjoys pursuing the football.”
Outside linebacker Ashton Belaire added, “We knew everyone was hyping him up. We have been doing this all year. VC is the No. 1 defense in the state statistically. We were not going to let someone come into the stadium and run over us just because he has stars next to his name.”
The Saints finished with only 120 yards of offense compared to VC, which had 376 yards.
The Saints, who came into the game rushing for more than 200 yards a game, were held to only 87 yards. They had averaged only 2.5 yards a carry on Friday as a team.
“The challenge was that one of the best running backs in the state was coming to our place,” said VC head coach Broc Prejean. “I lost sleep about it all night. Our defensive staff did a great job setting up a game plan, and our players executed it.”
After watching the film on Berry this week, Prejean said his defense did not seem intimidated by what they saw. “They respected him. We showed them his highlights, and we wanted them to know what they were up against. We wanted them to know how special he could be if you let up.
“They understood what the task was.”
The task was to stop Harlem Berry, and VC’s defense completed the task once again.