Central Catholic eases past St. John in season opener, 30-0

Central Catholic may have totaled 30 points with two different Eagles scoring touchdowns and another topping 100 yards rushing, but it was the defense that stole the show in the squad’s season-opening 30-0 victory against St. John of Plaquemine Thursday in Morgan City.
The Eagles limited St. John to 18 yards of total offense (9 yards rushing and 9 passing).
Meanwhile, the Eagles sacked St. John’s quarterback five times, and Central Catholic defensive back Jalen Johnson, a University of Louisiana at Lafayette commitment, intercepted him once. Johnson picked off another pass and returned it for a touchdown, but the play was negated by a pass interference penalty.
The Eagles’ defense also recovered a fumble.
Offensively, Central Catholic got three touchdowns from running back Chris Singleton, who rushed 13 times for 85 yards.
Teammate Bailey Badeaux led the Eagles’ ground attack with 17 carries for 113 yards.
Central Catholic totaled 282 yards, 238 of those coming on the ground.
The Eagles scored touchdowns on their first two drives of the game. Singleton scored from 3 yards out with 9:41 remaining in the opening quarter and again on the Eagles’ second drive on a 13-yard run with 5:08 remaining in the opening quarter.
Central Catholic led 14-0 after a quarter and added a touchdown late in the first half when quarterback Blake Byrne rushed for a 5-yard score with 33 seconds remaining.
The play was set up by a Byrne connection with wide receiver Greg Leger for 44 yards down to the St. John 5-yard line. Byrne completed 1 of 5 passes in the game for 44 yards.
Drake Angeron, who was 4-for-4 on extra points, converted the PAT through for the 21-0 lead.
Central Catholic added its final touchdown on its opening drive of the third quarter when Singleton scored on an 18-yard run with 6:58 remaining in the third quarter.
The Eagles got another score with 9:28 remaining in the contest via a safety for the final margin.
Central Catholic will return to action Sept. 8 when it hosts Class 2A Opelousas Catholic in a nondistrict contest.
Look for more on Thursday’s game in Friday’s newspaper.