Archbishop Shaw’s Eagles scored the final 19 points in a 40-20 victory over the Pearl River Rebels in the bi-district round of the playoffs held on a windy Saturday night at Hoss Memstas Stadium.

Pearl River, the 15th seed, ended the season at 7-3. It was the Eagles’ sixth-straight victory after an 0-4 start. Shaw (6-4), seeded 15th, plays No. 2 Benton in the regional round of the playoffs.

Things started good for Pearl River. On their second possession, quarterback Matt Smith handed the ball to Will Reed on third-and-eight, and he took it up the right sideline and into the end zone for a 34-yard scoring run. Kevin Dancer applied the extra point, and PRHS led 7-0 with 7:09 left in the first quarter.

Pearl River'€™s Stephen Arthur (2) attempts to pull down Archbishop Shaw running back Lawrence Breaud (1) during Saturday night'€™s playoff game at Hoss Memstas Stadium. (Staff Photo by Chris Kinkaid) Pic. 2: Pearl River'€™s James Gillum (21) looks to make a move on Archbishop Shaw'€™s Anthony Hughes (2) in their bi-district playoff game held at Hoss Memstas Stadium Saturday night. (Staff Photo by Chris Kinkaid) Pic. 3: Pearl River'€™s James Gillum (21) finds a hole to run through a hole and tries to break the tackle of an Archbishop Shaw defender during Saturday night'€™s playoff game held at Hoss Memstas Stadium on the Westbank. (Staff Photo by Chris Kinkaid)

Shaw came back on the next drive. The Eagles had a third-and-one from their own 25. The Eagles called a quarterback sneak, and Kyle Keating stayed on his feet. He was finally caught on Pearl River’s 2-yard line after a 72-yard run.

Chris Current scored on the next play, but the PAT was no good, and PRHS still led 7-6 with 5:09 remaining in the opening period.

Keating talked about his big play.

“Everybody went inside, and I bounced it outside. Nobody was there to contain it, and I just broke it,” Keating said.

On the ensuing kickoff, James Gillum picked up the ball at his own 20 and returned it 80 yards for the score. Dancer was good once again on the PAT, and the Rebels seemed to be in good shape with a 14-6 advantage at the 4:54 mark of the first quarter.

On Shaw’s first possession of the second quarter, the Eagles tied the game on a drive, during which the Rebels were penalized four times for 38 yards.

Shaw faced a third-and-10 from its own 18, but Keating connected with Mark Paul for 23 yards with 15 more tacked on for a personal foul, which moved the ball to the Rebels’ 44.

Then Holden Lombard, who rushed for 144 yards, had a 16-yard run, and PRHS was flagged for a 5-yard facemask to move the ball to the 8. Lombard got the carry on the next play and got 3 yards, but a personal foul on the Rebels put the ball at the 2. Lombard tallied on the next play. The two-pointer was good on a pass from Keating to Paul, tying the contest at 14-14.

“Lombard had a great game,” Shaw coach Scott Bairnsfather said. “He was running the ball the best out of the group and was really seeing the holes well. He played with a lot of vision and ran really hard. He had probably his best game of the season.”

Right before halftime the Eagles took the lead for the first time. Shaw got the ball at its own 38 after a PRHS punt with 1:43 left.

The Eagles drove 62 yards in 1:31 and scored on a 10-yard touchdown throw by Keating, who hooked up with tight end DeMarko Baldwin. The extra point was good, and Shaw took a 21-14 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, PRHS took the opening kickoff but was forced to punt. The kick hit one of Shaw’s players, and the Rebels recovered the ball and took over at the Eagles’ 34.

Five plays later, Gillum ran right and crashed into the end zone for the score. The PAT failed on a bad snap, and the Eagles still led, 21-20.

Shaw then went on a 4:50 drive and tallied on a Keating sneak. After the point after was no good, the Eagles led 27-20.

It stayed that way until the fourth quarter when the Eagles went 43 yards, capped off by a Lawrence Breaud TD run. Mike Ledet hit the extra point, and Shaw increased its lead to 34-20.

After a PRHS punt, the Eagles padded their advantage by going 80 yards with Breaud finishing the drive with an 11-yard TD run. The extra point failed to end the scoring at 40-20.