Pope John Paul tries to rebound from opening loss

Pope John Paul II will go for its first win of the season at 7 tonight when it takes on the De La Salle Cavaliers in a road game at Muss Bertolino Stadium.

PJP is coming off a 26-0 loss to Pearl River last Thursday, while De La Salle also suffered a loss in its opener last week.

Jaguars’ first-year coach Mark Jeanmard said he is looking forward to a good game.

“Neither of us want to go 0-2,” Jeanmard said. “They probably feel they have something to prove as do we. They like to spread the field and run some option, but they also have a good passing game. Their line on both sides, on film, look to be big.”

The teams met last season with the Jaguars, winning 26-14.

In that game, Andrew Guilliot, who graduated last year, broke a 14-14 tie with a 77-yard kickoff return after the Cavaliers knotted the score. This year, PJP has a new coach and a new offensive system as the Jaguars are running the veer.

The quarterback is senior Nathan Hewitt. Joining him in the back field are senior Ross Macaluso, junior Sidney Corwin and sophomore Carlo Conforto. Macaluso led the rushing attack against Pearl River with 51 yards on 15 carries. Hewitt gained 21 yards on the ground for an offense that struggled.

When Hewitt looks to throw, his main receiver is senior Tommy Gritten, who had one reception for 7 yards last week.

The deepest drive Pope John Paul had was down to the Rebel 16.

Trailing 20-0 and facing a fourth-and-one, the Jaguars had the first down but turned the ball over on a fumble.

Pearl River tallied on the next possession to seal the victory.

Jeanmard said he is looking for his team to get better.

“We want to continue to improve on the things that we focused on at practice and finish drives,” Jeanmard said. “I want to see better execution of the offensive plays and defensive schemes than what we had last week.”

Defensively, the Jags base out of the 4-4 and are very aggressive. Last week the group struggled giving up 369 yards to Pearl River, all rushing.

Jeanmard said his team has to avoid giving up the big play.

“We must contain their running backs and quarterbacks,” Jeanmard said. “Their quarterback has good speed, and their running back is dangerous if he gets in the open field.”