Blue Jays hook Tarpons, 35-7

The South Lafourche Tarpons offense seemed non-existent Friday night, finishing the night with -7 yards of total offense in a 35-7 loss to the Jesuit Blue Jays in Galliano.

South Lafourche Head Coach Tommy Gisclair credited Jesuit’s defense for shutting down the Tarpons’ offense throughout the entire game.

“They controlled the line of scrimmage and we couldn’t get anything going on offense,” Gisclair said. “This is what we like to call a good old-fashioned butt kicking.”

The Blue Jays finished with 302 total yards on the night, with only 28 of those coming through the air. The Tarpons (1-2) finished the night completing one pass behind the line of scrimmage for -3 yards.

Jesuit head coach Sid Edwards said the game was a testimony to how hard his defense has worked so far this season.

“We’ve watched film all week and our defensive coaches did a great job of preparing our team,” Edwards said. “We are coming off of a tough game last week against Karr so we wanted to come in and be physical.”

Not only was yardage hard to come by for the Tarpons to, but first downs were too, finishing the night with zero compared to seven for the Blue Jays.

The scoring started early for Jesuit (1-2); after forcing a three-and-out on the Tarpons opening possession, the Blue Jays went 52 yards on seven plays ending with a 4-yard touchdown run by quarterback Danny Zimmerman to put the Blue Jays up 7-0 with 7:08 to play in the first quarter.

After both teams traded possessions, the Blue Jays went up 14-0 on a one-play drive capped off by a 39-yard touchdown run by Payten Lambert with 1:32 to play in the opening quarter.

The Blue Jays got the ball back after the Tarpons fumbled to end the quarter. Five plays later, Lambert scored again, this time from 4 yards out to put the Blue Jays 21-0 with 9:13 to play in the first half.

Lambert led all Blue Jays on the night finishing with 182 yards and four touchdowns. Al Charpentier led the Tarpons finishing with 23 yards on 13 carries.

Neither team found the end zone the rest of the second half and the score remained 21-0 entering the third quarter.

Lambert continued his impressive play in the second half, scoring from three yards out in the opening possession to put the Blue Jays up 28-0 with 5:31 to play.

After trading possessions again, the Blue Jays capitalized on another Tarpon fumble in the fourth quarter and Lambert scored his fourth touchdown of the night, this one from 24 yards out, to break the game open 35-0.

The Tarpons first and only score of the game came with 5:29 to play in the fourth. Christopher Chabert returned a Chance Van Meter fumble 40 yards for a score. The lead was cut to 35-7 after the PAT.

Each team finished with three turnovers, all fumbles.

Despite the loss, Gisclair said it is important for the Tarpons to learn from this game and prepare for the upcoming weeks.

“We need more experience right now,” Gisclair said. “We need to get ready for district and try and compete with those teams.”

South Lafourche has its final pre-district game next week against Destrehan.