Eagles hope to reverse fortunes against Belaire

The St. John Eagles are set for a trip to Baton Rouge Thursday, where they hope to bag their second win of the season against 4A foe Belaire.

Kickoff is 7 p.m.

The Eagles (1-2) hope to avenge a 20-14 loss form last season, one of only two for the Bengals during their 2020 run.

Belaire awaits St. John after a 48-0 rout against Central. Belaire began its season with a 16-6 win at Northeast.

A win over Belaire would ease the sting from a 14-10 heartbreaker on Sept. 17 at New Iberia-based Highland Baptist.

“We dominated the stat line and played well most of the game, but we couldn’t get into the end zone,” head coach Coby Minton said. “We had our chances in the fourth quarter, but we couldn’t connect.”

The Eagles got possession in Hamilton territory late in the fourth quarter, but the ran out before they could reach the end zone.

Quarterback Maddox Bennett’s 71-yard touchdown run tied the game in the first quarter.

Charlie Guidry’s 27-yard field goal in the third quarter put the Eagles ahead 10-7.

Bennett led Eagle rushing with 11 carries for 116 yards, while Andrew Kleinpeter tallied 80 yards off 16 carries. Joseph Schlatre notched six carries for 53 yards.

Bennett completed 10 of 21 passes for 69 yards.

Schlatre took six of his passes for 35 yards, including a 15-yard catch. Kleinpeter grabbed two Maddox passes for 23 yards, including one for 19 yards.

Jarworski Joseph powered Hamilton with a 47-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and a 22-yard scamper in the fourth that spoiled hopes of an Eagle victory.

St. John cannot take Belaire lightly, despite the struggles the program has endured in recent years, Minton said.

“They definitely have some good athletes and they’re very much improved from last year, from watching last year’s video and watching them this year,” he said. “The score is not indicative of how well they played early in the game against Central.

“We need to make the most of every possession, and when we have open receivers, open holes to run the ball and make sure we capitalize on that,” Minton said.  “We can’t have dropped passes, missed receivers or missed blocks.”