Pope John Paul II cruises past St. Helena Central

Pope John Paul II’s Tyler Lusignan ran for 185 yards and two touchdowns, while adding another TD on a punt return as the Jaguars downed St. Helena Central 28-6 in PJP’s final regular-season home game Friday.

“The offensive line did an outstanding job of blocking for him,” Jaguars’ coach Mark Jeanmard said. “He ran possessed. The offensive line’s goal was to get him over 1,000 yards and they did.”

Lusignan goes into the final week of the regular season with 1,041 yards.

The Jaguars (5-4) evened their district mark at 2-2. St. Helena Central (3-6) is 1-3 in league play.

Jeanmard said it was a big win, especially for the seniors.

“They talked about how they wanted to be remembered and they wanted to win their last home game,” Jeanmard said. “Credit to the team for not giving up and believing they can go to the playoffs. We challenged them to win one more game than they did last year. Right now they are even.”

Pope John Paul II never trailed in this one. They opened the scoring in the second quarter. Lusignan’s 54-yard run brought the ball to the 11. The Hawks jumped offsides. Following a Lusignan four-yard rush, quarterback Clyde Perkins snuck in from the two. Sidney Corwin’s extra point made it 7-0, a lead PJP took to halftime.

PJP picked up momentum to begin the second half, as Lusignan returned the kickoff 75 yards for a TD. Corwin once again was good with the PAT and the Jaguars led, 14-0.

Later, the defense stepped up as PJP recovered a fumble at St. Helena Central’s 40. The Jaguars took advantage as Lusignan hit pay dirt from eight-yards out.

The Hawks got on the board with a 60-yard pass. Their two-point conversion was unsuccessful, keeping it 21-6.

Lusignan finalized the scoring in the third quarter with a 45-yard run and Corwin applied the PAT for the 28-6 victory.

Jeanmard said the defense played well.

“I thought they did a very good job,” Jeanmard said. “Our defensive line did well. They weren’t always making tackles, but they were disrupting plays. Credit to our staff for putting together a good game plan. Special teams also played well. They changed field position. Kevin Oakes had some nice punt returns.”

Jeanmard also credited Brendon Lagasse for his coverage on St. Helena’s best wide receiver Ryan Byrd, while also saying R.J. Barba and Calvin Durel did a good job for PJP.

The Jaguars play their final regular-season game Friday against St. Thomas Aquinas.�