Tom Dodge
BELLEVUE – St. Edmund moved closer to a District 5-1A title as the Blue Jays rolled to a 52-7 win over Westminster Christian Academy.
The Blue Jays scored first when Henry Brown connected with Easten Coleman for a 64-yard touchdown.
Justin Landry’s PAT gave SEH a 7-0 lead with 3:23 left in the first quarter.
After stopping the Crusaders for the third time in the opening period, St. Edmund then moved 38 yards in just four plays, capped by a four-yard touchdown run by Kieran Davis.
The PAT failed, but the Jays led 13-0 with 11:55 remaining in the second quarter.
WCA responded with a 43-yard, nine play scoring drive capped by a one-yard run by Janssen LeCour.
Gabriel Profitt’s PAT closed the gap to 13-7 with 8:07 left in the period.
The Jays started their next drive at midfield and took nine plays to score again, closed by 17-yard run by Taylor Daire.
Landry’s kick increased the Jays’ lead to 20-7 with 3:59 left before intermission.
The St. Ed defense then scored when Coleman took a fumble recovery 30 yards for a touchdown.
The PAT failed, but the Jays lead 26-7 with 2:11 remaining in the period.
St. Edmund took the second half kickoff and went 46 yards in six plays, finished with a seven-yard pass from Henry Brown to Davis.
The PAT failed, but the Jays led 32-7 with 9:34 remaining in the third frame.
After stopping the Crusaders on downs at the SEH 32, the Jays moved 63 yards in 10 plays to increase their lead.
Daire scored on a three-yard run and Henry Brown’s PAT pushed the Jays ahead, 39-7 with 1:15 left in the period.
Three plays after the ensuing kickoff, St. Edmund recovered a WCA fumble near midfield.
On the fifth play of the Blue Jay drive, Clay Miller found Nick Fontenot open for a 14-yard touchdown.
Henry Brown’s PAT pushed St. Ed’s lead to 46-7 with 11:15 remaining in the fourth quarter.
WCA moved the ball to the Blue Jay 7 before the St. Edmund defense held.
The Jays mounted the longest drive of the game as SEH moved 93 yards in seven plays.
Davis, who finished with 227 yards in 26 carries against the Crusaders, scored the game’s final touchdown on a one-yard run with 5:39 left in the contest.
St. Edmund (5-1, 2-0) will entertain Catholic High of Pointe Coupee (5-2, 3-0) Friday in a battle for the District 5-1A title.
Several area teams could not play this week because of COVID-19 protocols including Iota, Mamou and Sacred Heart of Ville Platte.
Iota (2-3) is expected to return to competition this week as the Bulldogs will take on Northwest (2-4) at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Iota was scheduled to travel to Mamou (1-2), but the Green Demons were forced to end their season after playing just three games.
The Green Demons defeated Pine Prairie 25-13 for their only win of the season.
Mamou’s game against Northwest was cancelled and the Green Demons halted the season with Church Point and Iota district games yet to be played.
Sacred Heart (3-1 overall, 1-1 in district) is expected to conclude the regular season Friday at North Central.
The Trojans were forced to cancel district games against St. Edmund and Opelousas Catholic.
OC (2-1, 1-0) was also forced to cancel two district games earlier this season.
Opelousas High (0-6), Beau Chene (1-5) are teams reported that will not play their final two games.