Pope John Paul II hosted Archbishop Hannan and Metairie Park Country Day in a three-way scrimmage Thursday.

The teams had 10 plays to get to the 20. Once inside the red zone, they had the normal four tries to get a first down. Also, there were red zone drills where the ball was placed on the 20 and they played it like a normal-game situation.

PJP coach Mark Jeanmard, who enters his third season with the Jaguars, said the scrimmage went well.

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“Everybody understood what we were trying to accomplish like getting different looks,” Jeanmard said. “The coaches were all working together.”

The Jaguars finished 6-4 in the 2009-regular season before falling 41-21 to Many in the bi-district round of the playoffs.

The defenses appeared to be in mid-season form for the clubs.

“I was impressed with our defense although we had two penalties for first downs,” Jeanmard said.

The Jaguars were flagged for roughing the passer and a horse-collar tackle.

One of the offensive highlights happened within the first 20-minutes of the event. Pope John Paul II quarterback Clyde Perkins threw a pass to Michael Calogne, who went up high with a defender on him and made an outstanding catch.

On that drive, Hannan’s defense rebounded and kept the Jaguars from scoring.

Archbishop Hannan’s Hawks enter this season under a new head coach Pat Lambert, who takes over following the Hawks’ 1-8 season.

Lambert said his team left without any injuries.

“That’s a big plus for us because we’re young and we don’t have that many people,” Lambert said.

Lambert also said his club got out there and hit some people.

“We played two teams that have been around for years in Pope and Country Day,” Lambert said. “Pope did never scored on us except for the red zone drill and Country Day scored just once. Country Day runs that veer. We haven’t practiced much against the veer. Then after they scored, we came back and stopped them.”

He also said he enjoys the three-way scrimmage.

“I like playing against two different offenses and defenses on the same day,” Lambert said. “It makes you more disciplined because you never know when people are going to change on you.”

Scrimmages are also a great training tool for officials and a way for them to get back in action. Thursday’s scrimmage featured 15 officials, four rookies.

The first-year guys got their initial on-the-field training during scrimmages this week and will work junior high (seventh-eighth grade) and little-league games this year. They won’t be working varsity, JV or ninth-grade games until they’ve got a year of experience. They will handle clock duties at varsity games.

Jay Felker, who handles the officiating assignments for all levels below varsity in St. Tammany and Washington Parish, said the new officials have been through meetings and study sessions since the first Monday after Independence Day.

Felker, who heads up an officiating crew, said the rookies were looking good.

“They’re going to make mistakes, but they’re looking pretty good,” Felker said. “They’re all hustling, they’re all doing well. I’ve got experienced officials with them what they’re doing right and what they’re doing wrong. It works out real well for us because we get a chance to get them in and get them some work.”

Pope John Paul II plays in the Newman Jamboree Friday before the regular season gets underway Sept. 3 with a road game against St. Patrick’s of Biloxi, Miss.

Hannan competes Friday at the False River Academy Jamboree and opens the 2010 campaign Sept. 3 against Northlake Christian School.