In the second game, Northshore junior quarterback Jervious Epherson recorded 224 yards of total offense and Quinn Johnson got his second interception late to preserve a 16-12 victory over Slidell.
The teams played a pair of 15-minute halves.
  
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Hurricane Gustav caused problems with several jamborees and had an effect on this one. John McDonogh was scheduled to play Salmen, but cancelled. Pearl River was supposed to be in the Chalmette Jamboree, but that was cancelled, so the Rebels took McDonogh’s spot.
The big punt play happened when Salmen faced a fourth-and-10 from its own 13 with the score tied 7-7. Ladner broke through and blocked the punt attempt, and Pearl River got the ball on the Spartan 6-yard line.
On the first play, Reed ran the ball to the 4, then quarterback Matt Smith was running to his right when he fumbled the ball and Salmen recovered. But the Spartans were called for a personal foul facemask penalty, and that gave Pearl River a first-and-goal. On the next play, Reed got in from the 3, and the extra point was no good, but the Rebels had a 13-7 lead.
Pearl River coach Joe Harris said his team competed hard.
“We talked about one thing all week, and that was being tough, and I felt like the kids played tough football,” Harris said.
Salmen had one final chance to score, and the Spartans returned the ensuing kickoff to their own 44. After an incompletion on the initial play, quarterback Matt Lipham, who was playing in place of Julien Troullier, connected with James Foucha on a 30-yard pass to get it down to the Rebels’ 20. Troullier, who was injured before the game, was only supposed to play in an emergency situation. He came in at wide receiver with 18 seconds left, and the pass went to him, but Reed broke it up. After another incompletion, the Spartans had one last chance. Troullier, now the quarterback for the final play with three seconds remaining, ran for 9 yards as time expired.
Salmen coach Jerry Leonard said Troullier played because some players cramped up. He said he was happy with the progression his squad made from last week’s Destrehan scrimmage, but he added there’s still a lot of work to do.
“I thought our effort was a lot better than it was last week,” Leonard said. “I thought we played with a little more hustle. I know it was an improvement over last week. Obviously, we have to get a lot better between now and next week to have a good showing against Northshore.”
Pearl River, playing without an injured James Gillum, looked elsewhere for players to step up. Reed ran for 52 yards, while Jeremiah Levy recorded 55 yards.
Harris said his players did a good job of stepping up all game.
“They’re tough kids. We lined, just went at them and they responded,” Harris said.
Pearl River’s defense also came to the forefront and intercepted two passes. Stephen Arthur and Maxwell had one each.
The game was scoreless at halftime, but in the second half, Salmen took the opening kickoff and marched 71 yards on 13 plays. The Spartans tallied on fourth-and-two when Daniel Sams line up at quarterback and took the snap around the right side for a 3-yard TD run. Freshman Chris Gulino hit the PAT to give Salmen a 7-0 lead with 9:29 left in the game.
Pearl River came right back on the next possession and drove 75 yards. The big play came when Smith launched a pass to Jacob Maxwell for a 37-yard touchdown pass. Reed’s PAT knotted the game at 7-7 with just under seven minutes remaining.
Slidell-Northshore
Northshore’s Epherson threw for 132 yards and had a 45-yard scoring strike to Archie Ambo. Epherson added 92 more yards on the ground and a TD.
Epherson said his offensive line blocked well for him.
“They did a very good job,” Epherson said. “It’s the best I’ve ever seen them block.”
Northshore was playing without three of its starting receivers, Adam Chopin, Andrew Cossé and Breck Kline. Despite that, Epherson completed 11-of-16 passes.
The Panthers got on the board first when they took the opening kickoff 70 yards on 13 plays, capped by an Epherson 2-yard touchdown run. Tyler Foltz’s PAT gave Northshore a 7-0 lead with 8:53 left.
Slidell made it a 7-6 game with 4:01 remaining in the first half. The Tigers got the ball on NHS’ 35-yard line. Senior quarterback Blake Forbis opened the drive by hooking up with Zachary Johnson for 18 yards. Two plays later Forbis ran left and scoring on a diving effort. The PAT was no good, and NHS held a 7-6 advantage.
The Panthers took the next possession down to Slidell’s 20 and elected to try a field goal on fourth-and-eight. Foltz came through to give his squad a 10-6 lead with 1:22 left in the first half.
Slidell got the ball back and threw three consecutive incompletions and was forced to punt, but Northshore fumbled the kick and the Tigers recovered it at NHS’ 25. After a 24-yard pass to Armand Williams, Forbis snuck it in from the 1. The PAT was blocked to keep SHS at a 12-10 lead with 33 seconds left.
Northshore came right back and returned the kickoff to the Slidell 45. On the first play, Epherson hit Ambo, who made the catch along the left sideline and got into the end zone. The PAT was no good, and the Panthers led 16-12.
Ambo said he made a mistake on the play.
“I lined up on the wrong side,” Ambo said. “I was supposed to line up on the right.”
Slidell had chances in the second half but turned the ball over twice. The final one came on an interception by Johnson with 4:45 left. NHS ran out the clock to preserve the win.
Slidell coach Artie Liuzza said his team played well, and he hopes to clear up some of the mistakes his team made.
“I think we had a good effort, but we had mental lapses in spots,” Liuzza said. “That’s why you play the jamboree. Particularly in the kicking game, we had some miscues on people being out there. That happens, so hopefully we can clear that up.”
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