Northshore’s Jervious Epherson threw three touchdown passes and the Panthers got out to a 20-0-first quarter lead on their way to a huge victory over St. Paul’s, 34-19, in a District 6-5A game held at NHS Friday night.

Northshore coach Mike Bourg talked about how big the win was for his team.

“We just outplayed them. We were more physical than them. We came out and kept up the intensity. The kids played well and they hung on. It’s a great win for this school and for this program,” Bourg said.

St. Paul's Mikhail Washington (1) runs under a pass as Northshore'€™s Chris Ruiz (6) pursues him during Friday'€™s District 6-5 contest held at NHS. (Photo by James Elorriaga)

The victory by Northshore, 5-1 overall, tied the Panthers with Mandeville and Covington for first place in the district as all three have 3-1 records in league play. The Skippers fell to Fontainebleau, 19-16, in overtime, while CHS beat Hammond, 21-16.

St. Paul’s (5-2) slipped to 2-2 in district.

Things started off well for NHS from the beginning. On the first play of the game from his own 42, Epherson ran for 36 yards. From there Northshore picked up a first down to the 12. NHS went back four yards over the next two plays, which included a five-yard penalty. Facing a third-and-14 from the 16, the Panthers called a middle screen and Epherson hit Archie Ambo, who took it the rest of the way for the score. Tyler Foltz hit the extra point and Northshore led 7-0 with 9:45 left in the first quarter.

Epherson said he was confident in the play.

“I knew it was going to happen because all of them were rushing in,” Epherson said. “I knew it was going to be there, I was just waiting on the throw and made it happen,” Epherson said.

Just nine ticks later, the Panthers struck again, this time on defense. St. Paul’s took over at its own 20 after a touchback. On St. Paul’s first offensive play from scrimmage, Stephon Smith was given the handoff, but he fumbled and NHS’ Chris Wade picked up the loose ball and took it 19 yards for the score. After the PAT the Panthers had a 14-0 lead. Wade talked about the play.

“We were on the outside blitz. I think Chris Ruiz made the forced fumble. The ball was just laying there, so I picked it up and ran, and nobody was catching me after that,” Wade said.

NHS’ defense, which held the Wolves to just 43 yards of total offense in the first half, forced a three-and-out on the next possession and the Panthers got the ball on the 50 after a punt.

NHS drove it to the 19 and Foltz hit his first of two field goals on the night, this one from 37-yards out.

The ensuing kickoff once again went into the end zone and the Wolves began on their own 20, but went three-and-out.

Northshore returned the ensuing punt to the Wolves 30. The Panthers moved the ball to the 8, but had to settle for another field goal. Foltz split the uprights again and with 2:01 left in the first quarter, the Panthers held a 20-0 lead.

St. Paul’s coach Ken Sears said things couldn’t have been much worse for the Wolves in the opening period.

“They jumped on top of us real quick. Everything that can go wrong for us went wrong that first quarter and it was hard for us to climb out,” Sears said.

The Wolves offense started clicking on the next series as the Wolves went 66 yards on nine plays. The big play of the drive came with St. Paul’s facing a fourth-and-three from NHS’ 48.

The Wolves lined up to punt, but SPS had a trick up its sleeve and faked it. The snap went to upback Jordan Bodenheimer, who got the three yards for the first down.

Following the fake, quarterback Alec Duncan connected with Smith for 25 yards. Two plays later, St. Paul’s got on the board when Duncan hit Patrick Huval in the middle of the end zone for a TD. Jake Saltalamacchia nailed the PAT to trim the lead to 20-7 with 9:02 left in the first half.

One of the turning points in the game came later in the half with 2:35 left when St. Paul’s turned the ball over on downs on fourth-and-seven from NHS’ 38 and still trailing 20-7.

Northshore took over and made the most of the opportunity. The Panthers drove 62 yards in five plays and scored when Epherson hit Taylor Eads out of the backfield for an 11-yard touchdown.

The big play came when Epherson launched a pass to Andrew Cossé, who caught the ball off a tip. Foltz applied the PAT and the Panthers took a 27-7 advantage into halftime.

Eads said he knew his team needed that touchdown.

“I was on a little flat route and I saw I was open,” Eads said. “I was just hoping Jervious got it to me. I’m glad I got it in. It was nice.”

In the second half, the Wolves came out running the ball successfully primarily with Mikhail Washington, who handled the ball the final four plays of the seven-play drive. He had runs of 29 and 11 before catching a 4-yard pass. He finished the possession with a 21-yard run. The PAT hit the upright and Northshore maintained a 27-13 advantage.

Northshore’s defense continued to play tough and then in the fourth quarter, the offense put the game away. From his own 40, Epherson threw his final touchdown pass of the night when he hit Ben Cardon in stride for 60 yards. Foltz hit the extra point to make it 34-13.

The Wolves scored late on a 27-yard pass from Duncan to Washington. The PAT was blocked to finalize the tally at 34-19.

Northshore will host Covington Friday night, while St. Paul’s welcomes Ponchatoula to Hunter Stadium.