Blue Jays Open With Win

BOBBY ARDOIN

St. Landry Now.com Editor

St. Edmund eventually made the necessary defensive adjustments, as the Blue Jays pulled away from Elton High School in the second half with a passing game that provided 337 yards Friday night.

It was a back and forth game initially with Elton taking a 28-20 halftime lead, but St. Edmund head football coach James Shiver said his players responded with a strong second half that kept Elton out of the end zone..

“Elton uses a Power-I and it’s not easy to stop if you haven’t seen it that often. We went to an eight-man front and we were able to stop it and finish with a strong showing,” said Shiver.

The run game however enabled Elton to control possession for 32 minutes.

St. Edmund quarterback Nathan Zaunbrecher threw for two touchdowns, completing his throws to multiple receivers.

Hudson Simon had four receptions for 94 yards and one touchdown, while Max Smith had three catches for 80. Wide receiver Jake Aucoin also had a TD reception and three receptions for 74.

Markelin Lemoine, who scored all the Elton touchdowns, ran for 224 yards on 36 carries. Lemoine had all but 34 yards of the Indians’ total offense.

Shiver said he was pleased with a team that had little overall starting experience despite the presence of a large senior class.

“We have a lot of seniors and a lot of first-year starters. Four of our sophomores are starters now and our starting quarterback had never started a game before Friday night. We have our entire offensive line back from last season, so we are counting on our potential and ability to help us this season,” Shiver added.

The Jays claimed a 20-14 lead during a wild first quarter where the teams matched touchdown drives on almost every offensive possession.

St. Edmund responded to Indians’ scoring with a pair of 1-yard touchdowns runs by Wyatt Dubois and a 35-yard pass completion from Zaunbrecher to Simon.

In the third period St. Edmund took control with four touchdowns that included the TD throw from Zaunbrecher to Aucoin and a pair of touchdown runs from Nathan Driggs, who finished the game with 59 yards on 11 carries.

“Elton was playing a cover 3 the whole night, but they were able to stop our run game. We missed on some throws. I thought we could have thrown for about 400 yards,” said Shiver.

Up Next for the Jays is a Saturday afternoon game at the Catholic Bowl in Arlington, Tex., against Sacred Heart-Dallas.