The Blue Jays won its first playoff game since 2014 Friday night as No. 3 St. No. 3 Edmund grabbed a 22-7 win over No. 14 St. Frederick.
The Blue Jays (10-1) will entertain No. 6 Ascension Catholic (9-2) in the LHSAA Division IV quarterfinals as the Bulldogs cruised to a 63-7 victory over No. 11 Houma Christian (6-4) Thursday night.
“It was great to get the win against a good team,” St. Edmund head coach Andy Hargroder said. “It is good to advance but it doesn’t get any easier for us.”
After a scoreless first hald, St. Ed’s offense was put in great scoring position when Blue Jay defender Hunter Brown picked off a Warrior pass.
On the very next play, Blue Jay running back Luke Doucet raced 20 yards for the touchdown.
The PAT failed, but the Jays led 6-0 with 7:35 left before intermission.
St. Edmund later moved 50 yards in two plays, aided by a 49 yard run by Doucet.
The Blue Jay running back then scored from a yard out, but the two-point conversion run failed as St. Edmund held a 12-0 with 1:47 remaining in the quarter.
The Blue Jays came out of the locker room intent to extend its lead.
St. Ed’s moved down the field with strong runs by Doucet and Brad Miller along with a personal foul call against the Warriors.
But the 10-play drive stalled and Peyton Marcantel booted a 28-yard field goal to give the Jays a 15-0 advantage with 7:15 left in the third period.
After stopping St. Frederick on fourth down, the Jays gave the ball back when Ford Sparks intercepted his second pass of the game.
The Warrriors moved 23 yards in three plays, capped by a 23-yard scoring pass from Andrew Williams to Pat Johnson.
Will Ellender’s PAT closed the gap to 15-7 with 2:11 left in the third frame.
After St. Frederick stoppped the Jays again on fourth down, Blue Jay defender Brown snard another interception to stop the Warrior drive.
St. Edmund was forced to punt and St. Frederick moved the ball deep into Blue Jay territory before drive was stopped on fourth down.
The Blue Jays sealed the win three plays later as Marcantel took a pitch and raced 80 yards to the endzone.
Marcantel’s PAT pushed St. Ed’s lead to 22-7 with 1:48 left in the game.
After stopping the Warriors on fourth down again, the Jays went into victory formation and the St. Edmund faithful celebrated from the sidelines.
Doucet finished with 176 yards on 25 carries as the Blue Jay running back now has 15,30 yards on 207 attempts and 15 touchdowns this season.
“We need to do a better job on finishing drives on offense,” Hargroder said. “Our defense kind of wore down at the end.
“We need to work on that to keep the other team’s offense off the field.”