Blue Jays soar past Bulldogs

After falling behind 14-0, St. Edmund exploded for 26 points in the second quarter and went on to grab a 48-34 win over Ascension Catholic in the regional round of the Division IV playoffs.
The No. 5 Blue Jays now travel to No. 4 Cedar Creek who rolled to a 40-8 win over No. 20 Catholic High of Pointe Coupee.
“We started slow and rusty against a good team,” St. Edmund head coach Thomas David said. “They played hard and we knew we were in for a dogfight.
“We found our rhythm in the second quarter and continued to play hard the rest of the game.”
ACS (7-5) scored on the opening drive of the game, aided by 22-yard pass from D.J. Latino to Delmond Landry to move inside the Blue Jay 5.
On the next play, James Martin scored to finish the nine-play, 58 yard drive.
Martin added the PAT to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead with 8:58 left in the first period.
After both teams exchanged punts, the Bulldogs grabbed the momentum when Martin snared a Drew Brown pass and returned it to the Blue Jay 26.
Four plays later, Martin scored from seven yards out and added the PAT to push the Bulldogs ahead 14-0 with 3:22 left in the first period.
The Blue Jays began their comeback with a six-play, 76 yard drive that moved into the second period.
Brown connected with Stone LeJeune for a 20-yarder to move the ball inside the Bulldog 10.
On the next play, Brown scored on a nine-yard run but the two-point conversion pass attempt failed as St. Ed’s trailed 14-6 with 10:33 left before half.
On the first play of the next possession, Latino made a bad pitch on the option and the Blue Jays recovered at the ACS 27.
On fourth-and-three at the 20, the Bulldogs were caught offsides to keep the drive alive.
On the next play, Brown connected with LeJeune for a 15-yard touchdown.
The two-point conversion attempt failed as the Jays trailed 14-12 with 8:36 left in the half.
After forcing a punt, the Blue Jays started their next drive at their own 4.
Brown scrambled past 10 defenders and raced 90 yards before being tackled in the end zone after scoring the touchdown.
The two-point pass failed but the Jays held the lead at 18-14 with 5:56 remaining in the second period.
The momentum continued in St. Edmund’s favor as the Bulldogs fumbled the kickoff and Ross LaFleur recovered the ball at the ACS 27.
Brown ran the ball three times in the four-play drive including a five-yard score.
Zach LaFleur caught Brown’s two-point conversion pass to push the Jays ahead, 24-14 with 4:52 left before intermission.
The two teams exchanged punts before the Bulldogs went on a 46-yard drive in five plays, capped by a 30- yard pass from Latino to Grant Montero.
Martin’s PAT closed the gap to 26-21 with 33 seconds left in the half.
The Blue Jays took the second half kickoff and went 65 yards in 12 plays on a drive that took nearly four minutes off the clock.
Brown and Chase Dupre connected for a key 22-yard third down catch to move the Jays inside the ACS 20.
Six plays later on another third down, Brown found Dupre open for a 5-yard touchdown. The two-point pass attempt failed but the Jays led 32-21 with 7:55 left in the third period.
The Bulldogs moved down the field and seemed poised to pull within a touchdown, but Alex Hunt leaped to grab an fourth-down interception in the end zone to halt the threat.
The Blue Jays were forced to punt and Ascension Catholic was handed great field position at the St. Ed 38.
On fourth-and seven, Latino connected with Ken Dominque for a 35-yard touchdown. Martin was stopped just short on the two-point conversion as the Jays held on to a 32-27 advantage with 2:27 left in the third period.
St, Edmund then moved the ball 69 yards in just eight plays as Brown connected with LeJeune, Cullen Brown and Dupre to keep the drive alive.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Brown scored from a yard out and then found Hunt open for the two-point conversion to push the Jays ahead 40-27.
Aided by a strong kickoff return by Gilbert Allen, the Bulldogs started their next drive at the Blue Jay 30.
But on the second play, Dupre picked off Latino and returned the ball to the Blue Jay 38
After several strong runs by Zach LaFleur, Brown closed the eight-play, 69 yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge.
Dupre scored the two-point conversion to give the Blue Jays a 48-27 lead with 9:07 left in the game.
Ascension Catholic battled back with a quick 56 yard drive that took just four plays and less than a minute off the clock.
Latino connected with Allen and Patrick Butler before a 34-yarder to Grant Montero to move the ball to the Blue Jay 3.
Martin then scored on a short run and added the PAT to close the Blue Jay lead to 34-28 with 8:22 left in the game.
The St. Edmund offense then moved the ball 65 yards i 16 plays to run out the clock as the Blue Jays went into victory formation on a first-and-goal at the Bulldog 2.
Brown was the main offensive threat for the Blue Jays as he gained 259 yards on 33 carries and completed 12-of-19 passes for 144 yards.
Zach LaFleur added 138 yards on 20 carries, while Dupre hauled in five catches for 73 yards.