Gators down Jays

BELLEVUE – The non-district gauntlet is over for the St. Edmund Blue Jays.
The undefeated Beau Chene Gators celebrated homecoming with a 25-6 win to drop the Jays to 1-4 on the season.
The game was played at Westminster Christian Acadmey’s stadium because the Beau Chene field is unplayable from damages after the August flood.
After the Jays were forced to punt on the game’s first possession, the Gators moved 71 yards in seven plays for the first points.
Beau Chene thought they had scored twice before on the drive.
Charles Williams caught a pass from Deontre Eaglin and raced 66 yards to the end zone - but was ruled out of bounds at the Blue Jays’ 32.
Two plays later, Markaylin Milburn scored from 30 yards out, but a block in the back penalty erased the points.
Finally on second-and goal from the SEH 10, Eaglin connected with Williams for a touchdown.
The PAT failed, but the Gators led 6-0 with 7:19 left in the first period.
After another Blue Jay punt, Beau Chene went 52 yards in just two plays.
Dra Duplechin completed a 36-yard pass and then scored on an 16-yard run. The two-point conversion failed, but the Gators led 12-0 with 4:27 remaining in the quarter.
After a Blue Jay punt, Beau Chene celebrated an apparent 69-yard touchdown run by Eaglin, but it was nullified by a block below the waist penalty.
The Gators were forced to punt on the first play of the second period and St. Edmund responded with a 12-play drive that seemed promising as Peter Miller ran the ball seven times including converting on fourth down near midfield.
After a St. Ed penalty, Jhaleb Citizen intercepted Miller’s only pass of the drive, but a pass interference call gave the Jays another chance.
St. Edmund was forced to punt and Austin Miller’s kick was touched down at the Beau Chene 2.
Duplechain connected on three key passes on the six-play, 98-yard drive capped off with a 66-yard scoring strike to Eaglin.
Austin Guillory’s PAT increased the Gators’ lead to 19-0 with 2:53 left before intermission.
Citizen snared a interception to give Beau Chene the ball back with 56 seconds remaining in the half.
The Gators moved 67 yards in six plays as Duplechain found Eaglin open for a 42-yard touchdown with two seconds left in the period.
The PAT attempt was blocked and Beau Chene took a 25-0 advantage into the break.
The St. Edmund defense stood tall early in the third period to stop Beau Chene inches short on fourth down on the Blue Jay 35.
After a Blue Jay punt, the St. Ed’s defense responded again as Alex Stelly recovered a Beau Chene fumble again at the 35 yard line.
The Blue Jays were forced to punt and on the very next play, Jylon Henry raced 64 yards to the end zone but a holding call erased another apparent BC score.
After forcing a Gator punt to end the third period, the Blue Jays had its best drive of the game to begin the final quarter.
Luke Doucet and Brock Bieber combined for several strong runs to begin to move the Jays 70 yards from the end zone.
On the head’s up play of the drive, Markelle Richard picked off Jack Miller’s pass but promptly fumbled and Blue Jay receiver J.P. Ward jumped on the loose ball at the Beau Chene 13.
On fourth down at Gator 8, Doucet scored with 5:05 left in the game.
After recovering the squib kick off, the Gators then kept the ball the final eight plays to end the game.
Beau Chene finished with 434 yards of total offense including 301 in the air.
Duplechain completed 7-of-12 for 199 yards, while Eaglin completed 4-of-6 for 102 yards.
St. Edmund finished with 106 yards of total offense, all on the ground.
Doucet had 61 yards on 18 carries, while Peter Miller added 33 yards on 18 carries.
St. Edmund will celebrate homecoming and open District 5-1A play against False River Academy (3-2) Friday at Blue Jay Field. FRA fell to undefeated Northwest, 56-14.
“We finished strong as we kept them out of the end zone in the second half,” St. Edmund head coach Andy Hargroder said. “Hopefully this can help us as we begin district play.
“It was a tough schedule to open the season,” he said. “The experience could help us, but we lost several players along the way.”