The Pope John Paul Jaguars hosted the St. Thomas Aquinas Falcons Friday night at Lester Latino field with an opportunity to create a possible three-way tie for the District 9-2A championship. Although the Jags played toe-to-toe with the Falcons in the second half, it was the first half mauling by St. Thomas that made the difference in the 35-7 contest.

Trailing 28-0 entering the second half, Pope John Paul began their second series of the half at their 20-yard line. The Jaguars methodically moved down the field.

On third-and-13 from the 27, Jag quarterback Nathan Hewitt scrambled to the left side and found Sidney Corwin for a 20-yard gain to keep the drive alive. PJP’s feature back Ross Macaluso pounded for 18 more yards up the middle on the next play. On fourth down from the Falcon 30, Jaguar wide receiver Tommy Gritten made an outstanding catch in the front corner of the end zone for the touchdown, breathing a little life into the Jaguar hopes, narrowing the score to 28-7.

Pope John Paul II running back Ross Macaluso (6) tries to break tackles by St. Thomas Aquinas defenders on a running play during Friday night'€™s game held at PJP. (Photo by James Elorriaga)

Macaluso finished with 91 yards on 15 carries. Hewitt was eight-of-15 passing for 96 yards with the touchdown to Gritten.

St. Thomas started quickly going 62 yards on six plays for their first score. On second-and-four, quarterback Ramone Andrews narrowly escaped a sack and turned it into a 31-yard gain down to the Jaguar 12.

Two plays later, Josh Reed took a hand off from Andrews and swept around the left side for the touchdown.

After a Pope John Paul punt pinned the Falcons on their eight, Andrews launched a pass that found Blake Brooks at midfield. The Jaguar defensive back fell in his attempt to break up the pass, Brooks turned and headed for the end zone, and Andrews had a 92-yard touchdown pass, giving St. Thomas a 14-0 lead less than mid-way through the first quarter.

Pope John Paul again went three-and-out, and following the Jaguar punt, the Falcons took over on their 22. On second down, Josh Reed swept right to the 27, then cut back and ripped off a 51-yard carry down to the Pope 27. Zack Reed then carried for 11 to the Jaguar 16, and Brandon Loria finished the drive on the next play. The touchdown gave the Falcons a 21-0 lead with 3:36 remaining in the first quarter.

Josh Reed ran for 117 yards on 16 carries with three touchdowns. Loria carried 13 times for 58 yards and one score, while Andrews completed 3 passes on 10 attempts for 136 yards and the 92-yard touchdown.

“I’m proud of ‘em,” Jaguar coach Mark Jeanmard said, referring to his players. “We finished with a winning record. We’ll just have to sit back and see if we have a game next week. I don’t think we dropped any (in the rankings). I’ve got to give St. Thomas credit. Their offense has some very good athletes, and they had near perfect execution.”

“It’s a learning process,” Jeanmard continued. “I think we might have gotten caught up in all the glitz in the first half. In the second half, we came out and played with more umph.”

The Jaguars finished the regular season 2-2 in District 9-2A, and 5-4 overall, and await word on if and where they begin their playoff bid.