By Tom Dodge
Sports Editor
MERRYVILLE – With its 41-22 win over Merryville Thursday night, St. Edmund sealed its first district title since 2014.
The Blue Jays (9-1, 7-0) now await to see who they will face in the opening round of the Division IV playoffs.
The brackets will be released today by the LHSAA.
“Being alone at the top sounds a whole lot better,” St. Edmund head football coach Andy Hargroder said. “Anything is possible ahead in the playoffs.
“We are happy that we won, but we know we have a lot of work yet to be done.”
After both teams exchanged punts to open the game, the Blue Jays stopped the Panthers on fourth down near midfield.
St. Edmund then went 48 yards in nine plays, capped by a 16-yard touchdown run by Luke Doucet.
Peyton Marcantel’s kick gave the Jays a 7-0 lead with :59 seconds left in the first quarter.
The St. Ed’s defense stopped Merryville again on fourth down at the Panther 40 early in the second quarter.
It took the Blue Jays just three plays to score, aided by a 37-yard run by Duucet.
Brad Miller scored from three-yards out and Marcantel’s PAT pushed the Jays ahead, 14-0 with 10:35 left before intermission.
After forcing another punt, the Blue Jays then went 79 yards in seven plays, completed when Miller found Hunter Brown open for a 20-yard scoring strike. Marcantel’s kick increased St. Edmund’s margin to 21-0 with 5:12 remaining in the half.
Merryville responded with a 70-yard drive, aided by a three pass plays combined with a pass interference flag to move to the Blue Jay 30.
Conner Pruitt connected with JT Gargis for a 6-yard touchdown pass and Gargis ran in the two-point conversion as the Panthers closed to the gap to 21-8 with 2:25 left in the second period.
The Blue Jays exploded out of the locker room, moving 60 yards as Miller carried the ball all four plays.
The St. Edmund quarterback scored from three-yards out and after a missed extra point, the Blue Jays led 27-8 with 10:40 left in the third quarter.
The Panthers were forced to punt on their first possession of the second half and the Jays mounted another long drive, sparked by a 43-yard run by Doucet.
Doucet capped the 71-yard, seven-play drive witha 1-yard touchdown run and Marcantel’s kick increased the Jays’ lead to 34-8 with 4:12 left in the third frame.
Merryville answered with a 58-yard drive, sparked by a fourth-down conversion to keep the possession at the Blue Jay 35.
Five plays later, Pruitt connected with Gargis in the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown and Desmond McCain ran in the two-point conversion as the Panthers closed the margin to 34-16 with 10:45 left in the game.
The Blue Jays responded with a 58-yard, six play drive to put the game away, aided by several strong runs by Miller and Doucet.
Marcantel scored on a six-yard run and then added the extra point to push St. Edmund ahead, 41-16 with 7:51 remaining.
Merryville fought back with a 64-yard drive that took 11 plays and 5:07 off the clock including a fourth-down conversion at the Blue Jay 36.
Three plays later, Pruitt connected with Gargis for an 18-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion run failed and the Jays led 41-12 with 2:38 left in the game.
The Panthers recovered a mishandled on-sides kick, but two plays later the Blue Jays forced a fumble and the St. Edmund offense ran out the clock.
Miller ran for 209 yards on 20 carries to finish the regular season with 1,080 yards. Doucet added 189 yards on 17 carries to push his season total to 1,354 yards.
St. Edmund was No. 5 in the Division IV power rankings heading into the regular season finale and is expected to get a first-round home game.
The nine wins ties a school record set in 2008 when Jays went 9-0 in the regular season before falling 21-6 to Cedar Creek in the first round of the playoffs.