Vikings run past Jays

It wasn’t the way the St. Edmund coaches wanted to see the game unfold as the Blue Jays allowed 588 yards of total offense with Opelousas Catholic cruising to a 48-26 win Friday night.
“Early on we couldn’t get anything going on offense,” St. Edmund head coach Thomas David said. “We didn’t do a good job of stopping the run all night.”
The Blue Jay defense forced a turnover when William Chachere recovered a fumble in the Vikings’ first possession.
St Edmund failed to convert on fourth down and the Vikings then went 68 yards in five plays for the game’s first points as Aaron Whipp raced 54 yards for the touchdown.
Devin Bijeaux’s kick gave OC a 7-0 lead with 5:38 left in the first period.
After a second Blue Jay punt, the Vikings went 61 yards in seven plays to push ahead 14-0.
David Labbe capped the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run at the 1:25 mark followed by Bijeaux’s PAT.
Early in the second period, the Vikings struck again with a four-play, 56 yard drive.
Aaron Miller scored on a 23-yard run but the extra point was blocked as the Vikings led 20-0 with 9:45 left before intermission.
The Jays were forced to punt on their next possession, but then the St. Edmund defense held when Aaron Miller sacked Labbe on fourth down inside the red zone.
Two plays later, Nick Mouret snared an interception and the Vikings mounted a seven-play, 40-yard drive.
Labbe connected with Jacobi Richard for a 26-yard touchdown and Bijeaux’s kick gave OC a 27-0 advantage with 1:28 left in the second period.
St. Edmund quickly responded with a two-play scoring drive.
Drake Brunet connected with Gibson LaFleur for a 9-yarder before finding Cullen Brown wide open for a 61-yard touchdown.
The two-point conversion pass failed, but the Jays closed the gap to 27-6 with 41 seconds left before the break.
OC broke the game open on their first possession of the second half as the Vikings went 57 yards in five plays.
Whipp scored on a 2-yard run and Bijeaux’s kick gave OC a 34-6 advantage with 9:52 left in the third period.
The Blue Jays were forced to punt on their first drive of the second half, but OC failed to score as the Blue Jay defense held and OC missed a 28-yard field goal.
St. Edmund rallied for an impressive six-play, 80-yard drive, including a fourth-down pass from Brunet to LaFleur that went 70 yards to the OC 5.
On second-and-goal, Brunet connected with LaFleur again for a 7-yard touchdown. the two-point conversion failed, but the Blue Jays pulled closer, 34-12 with 3:06 left in the third period.
St. Edmund’s Kaden Fontenot picked off an OC pass, but two plays later Elijah Waters returned the favor with a 15-yard interception touchdown return.
Bijeaux’s PAT gave the Vikings a 41-12 lead with 1:112 left in the third period.
The Blue Jays battled back with a three-play drive that went 79 yards, capped by a 65-yard touchdown catch and run by LaFleur.
After back-to-back penalties, the two-point conversion pass attempt failed as the Jays trailed, 41-18 with 18 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
After a short kickoff, the Vikings scored on the next play as Labbe connected with Whipp for a 49-yard toucjdown.
Bijeaux’s PAT pushed the Vikings ahead 48-18 with 11:48 left in the game.
The Blue Jays mounted a final scoring drive that went 85 yards in seven plays, as Brunet ran for two first downs and threw for two others to move the ball down the field.
Brunet connected with Chachere for a 16-yard score and then found LaFleur open for the two-point conversion as the Jays closed the gap to 48-26 with 3:06 left.
Brunet completed 18-of-34 passes for 338 yards with three interceptions and three touchdowns.
LaFleur finished with 12 catches for 240 yards including two scores.
Labbe led the Vkings with 18 carries for 190 yards, while Whipp added 95 yards on six carries.
“We need to learn from this loss and do a better job of preparing ourselves,” David said. “We need to cut down on the mistakes and control the line of scrimmage better.”
St. Edmund (1-2) travels to Port Barre (2-1) this week as the Red Devils earned a 27-13 win over Beau Chene.