Eagles fall to Ascension Christian, await Houma Christian

St. John hopes to move past last week’s loss to Ascension Christian when the Eagles celebrate homecoming tonight against Houma Christian in non-district fare.

The Eagles await Houma Christian after a loss to Ascension Christian last week in Gonzales. SJHS took a first quarter lead but allowed Ascension Christian three touchdowns in the second quarter to give the Lions a 28-14 win in District 7-1A action last Thursday in Gonzales.

A Maddox Bennett seven-yard scamper put the Eagles ahead in the first quarter.

Ascension Christian chalked a TD on a 5-yard run in the fourth quarter, but Joseph Schlatre responded with a 2-yard sneak. Charlie Guidry made both point-after kicks for the Eagles.

“They did a great job keeping the ball away from us,” St. John coach Coby Minton said. “They switched to the triple option this year, so they effectively ran the dive and pulled it out with the quarterback, and they were effective on the ground and kept the clock running.”

St. John had four possessions in the first half, scored on its first possession, but came up short on a goal-line stand.

On their third possession, the Eagles reached Lion territory, but fumbled. They got the ball back with 2 ½ minutes left in the half, but an interception squashed the Eagle scoring effort.

The Lions took the opening kickoff in the second half and took seven minutes off the clock. A fumble squashed one drive before Schlatre scored on the final Eagle possession.

“One less turnover, it could’ve been a different game,” Minton said. “They capitalized on our mistakes, and that made the difference.”

St. John will host Houma Christian (1-3) tonight in a game originally scheduled to be played at Houma, but the game was moved to Andrew Canova Stadium due to damage from Hurricane Ida.

“They called us after the hurricane and didn’t know if they could hold the game with all the damage,” Minton said. “We gave them financial assistance to travel here and lighten the load of losing a game.

“We wanted to set it in stone, and with the hurricane, we lost time as well,” he said. “This also gave us the opportunity to move homecoming to this game.”