It was smash-mouth football for Pearl River all night Thursday as the Rebels gained 369 yards of total offense, all rushing, in a 26-0 victory over Pope John Paul II in both teams’ opener at Lester Latino Jaguar Field.

It was the second consecutive year Pearl River blanked PJP. Last season, the Rebels won 41-0.

Thursday’s contest was originally scheduled for Friday, but threats of Hurricane Ike moved the game up a day.

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The Rebels outgained Pope John Paul 369-101. Pearl River did not attempt a pass.

PRHS coach Joe Harris talked about the game.

“We just did our thing,” Harris said. “It’s just tough football, right up in there. We try to be an efficient football team.”

Pearl River running back James Gillum, who ran for 2,213 yards last season, picked up where he left off, going for 176 yards on 24 carries and three touchdowns.

Gillum talked about his three-touchdown night.

“We just kept running the ball and coach kept giving it to me, so I wanted to make something happen and I felt good about it,” Gillum said

On his final tote, Gillum suffered a hip injury with about 8:40 left. He did not return, but coach Joe Harris and Gillum both said he was fine.

When Gillum was in there, he along with teammates Jeremiah Levy and Will Reed torched the PJP defense.

Reed finished with 107 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown, while Levy ran for 78 yards in his 12 attempts.

Pearl River opened the scoring on its second possession. The Rebels got the ball on the Jags’ 49. Six plays later, on first down from the 18, Gillum took a handoff and ran up the middle and into the end zone to put his team on top 6-0 following a blocked extra point.

The Rebels next scoring drive came in the second period as Pearl River went 75 yards on 10 plays.

On second-and-goal from the one, Gillum once again went up the middle and tallied.

The two-point conversion was good as Reed took an inside handoff and the Rebs led 14-0 with 5:39 left in the first half.

The score stayed that way through halftime. Pearl River outgained PJP 143-47 in the first half. PRHS recorded eight first downs to the Jaguars three.

In the third quarter, Pearl River essentially put the game out of reach on its first possession with a four-play 55-yard drive that took 1:18 off the clock, capped off by Gillum’s 5-yard TD run. The key play was a 36-yard run by Gillum that brought the Rebels to the 5. The unsuccessful PAT kept Pearl River up, 20-0, with 8:04 left.

PJP’s offense struggled throughout the game.

The Jags best drive began with 2:07 left in the third quarter at their own 45.

Pope John Paul went 39 yards, taking the game to the fourth period.

On fourth-and-one from Pearl River’s 16, the Jags went for it. Cory Davis got the ball and had the first down, but fumbled and Pearl River’s Kendall Twillie recovered it with 11:04 left.

The Rebels took full advantage, going 87 yards. On third-and-five from PJP’s 48, Reed capped the possession when he ran up the middle, broke a tackle at the 31 and raced to the end zone, making it 26-0 with 7:04 left.

PJP was forced to punt on its next possession and PRHS ran out the final 5:07.

Ross Macaluso led the Jags with 51 yards rushing on 15 carries.

Pope John Paul coach Mark Jeanmard, who was making his debut at the helm of PJP, credited Pearl River’s defense and said his team is working to improve.

“They did well and I think they’re going to do pretty good if they stay healthy,” Jeanmard said. “We’ve gotta get the rhythm and understand what we’re trying to do on offense. A lot of times it was us stopping ourselves, not to take anything away from them. It’s just a matter of getting a rhythm. We’ll look at the film and figure out what we did do well and what we didn’t do well.”

Pearl River will go for 2-0 Friday when the Rebels play host to Pine, while PJP will attempt to get its first victory with a road game against De La Salle.