Lumberjacks sprint past Cardinals, 40-14

Patterson’s quick-strike spread offense kept E.D. White Catholic on its heels during Friday’s District 8-3A showdown at Yockey Bernard Field at Harvey Peltier Stadium.
Patterson senior running back/receiver D.J. Jones had three touchdown runs and added a score on a touchdown catch to lift the Lumberjacks to a 40-14 win against the Cardinals.
The Lumberjacks generated 373 total yards of offense (183 rushing, 190 passing, 12 first downs) and seized the momentum early with a 20-7 halftime lead.
With a shot at a district title on the line, Patterson coach Chad Blanchard said the Lumberjacks (5-2 overall, 3-0 in district) were determined to take care of business during Friday’s game against E.D. White (4-3 overall, 2-1 in district).
“We really talked all week about the environment and how tough it is to play over here,” Blanchard said. “This is a good, focused group of kids that we’ve got. They understand the importance of this game and what it means for our program. I’m happy for our guys.”
The Cardinals played without senior starting quarterback Ben Sposito, who was out with a foot injury. Sophomore quarterback Hunter Tabor started the game for E.D. White, which got 289 of its 297 total yards on the ground and finished with four turnovers (three interceptions and one fumble).
E.D. White coach Chris Bergeron said the Cardinals fought hard, but they just didn’t make enough plays.
“We didn’t execute well enough on offense,” Bergeron said. “We had some missed assignments on defense, and when you do that against those teams, that’s what’s going to happen.”
Patterson’s offense stuck quickly in the first half.
After a 55-yard yard punt return from Nehemiah Augustus, the Lumberjacks got a 13-yard touchdown run from D.J. Jones (14 carries, 82 yards) to take an early 7-0 lead with 4:11 left in the first quarter.
The Lumberjacks stuffed a fake punt attempt from E.D. White’s Winston Jones, setting up their next possession at the Cardinals’ 48-yard line. It took Patterson just three plays to score as quarterback Sirbatian Charles (10-for-13, 190 yards passing, two touchdowns) connected with D.J. Jones on a 14-yard touchdown pass over the middle to make it 14-0 with 21 seconds left in the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, Nik Shanklin (18 carries, 163 yards) got the Cardinals offense going with some bruising runs. His 20-yard touchdown run cut Patterson’s lead to 14-7 with 8:43 remaining in the second quarter.
Right after the Cardinals failed to recover the onside kick on the kickoff, Charles went to work again, hitting standout receiver Mykel Jones (four catches, 84 yards) on pass plays of 40 and 11 yards, respectively, to set up first-and-goal.
Charles used a 1-yard quarterback keeper to make it 20-7 Patterson after a failed extra point attempt with 6:38 left before half.
E.D. White threatened to score right before half, but Patterson’s defense stopped Shanklin on a fourth-and-inches attempt to keep the score at 20-7.
Mykel Jones, a highly-recruited senior standout with college suitors in Alabama, LSU, Tennessee and Ole Miss, caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Charles to extend the lead to 26-7 with 5:08 remaining in the third quarter.
After getting a 45-yard kickoff return from Jordan Szush, the Cardinals cut into the lead when Shanklin scored on a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down to make it 26-14 with 1:51 left in the third quarter. Jeremy Rounds (10 carries, 81 yards) also contributed for the Cardinals.
But D.J. Jones used touchdown runs of two and 21 yards, respectively, in the fourth quarter to put the Lumberjacks up for good.
Despite getting four defensive sacks, Bergeron said the Cardinals knew they faced a challenge in stopping Patterson’s offense.
“They came in with a little bit different game plan than we thought they were going to have, offensively,” Bergeron said. “I thought early on, we held our own defensively. We made plays and got big sacks for losses. We just didn’t get enough of them.”
D.J. Jones, who also got an interception as a defensive back, said the Lumberjacks were fired up to play well against longtime nemesis E.D. White.
“We know it was a rivalry game,” D.J. Jones said. “We worked hard at practice every day on both sides of the ball. We looked forward to playing in big games like this.”
Augustus and Shay Ragas also grabbed interceptions for Patterson.
Patterson (4-3) will return to action Friday when it hosts Erath in a 7 p.m. contest.
By CHRIS SINGLETON
Houma Courier