Gallery • 30 Photos

By Victoria Wright

Lined up in front of the St. James offense, the Jaguar defense prepares for the play. The Jaguars defeated the Thunder 35-13 on Friday, Sept. 2 for their first win in the Eastern Kansas League.

In the first game of the season on Friday, Sept. 2, the Jaguars came out on top, defeating the St. James Academy Thunder 35-13.

During the first quarter, senior wide receiver Ben Hartman caught junior quarterback Brody Flaming’s pass for the first touchdown of the night. The extra point by sophomore kicker Jack Matchette was good to give the Jaguars an early 7-0 lead.

Flaming recognized that the Jaguars would have to stick to their game plan early in order to get ahead of the Thunder.

“Them ranking number one didn’t mean anything to us, we’re just going to come in and play our game and we came out on top,” Flaming said.

St. James quickly tied the game, scoring a touchdown with 6:15 left in the first quarter.

The Jaguars then came back with a touchdown to junior wide receiver Evan Rice to add 6 points to the board. Matchette made the extra point, giving the Jaguars a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter.

Sophomore wide receiver Logan Talley caught a touchdown with 4:13 left in the second quarter. The extra point gave the Jaguars a 21-7 lead heading into halftime.

Talley knew it would be a tough game, but his pride for his school helped him succeed.

“We knew what to expect. We knew they were going to come out and try their hardest to win, but they’re coming onto our home turf and we’re here to defend it,” Talley said.

The Jaguars started the second half strong with a touchdown by Hartman and a successful extra point, they jumped out to an early third quarter lead of 28-7.

Talley added another touchdown in the third quarter. The extra point increased St. James deficit to 35-7.

St. James scored a touchdown with 6:21 left in the fourth quarter, but the extra point attempt was blocked. The Jaguars had a 35-13 lead, which was the final score of the game.

Although the Jaguars had a successful game, defensive coordinator Drew Hudgins thinks there is room to improve.

“I think they did a great job. We’ve still got a lot of stuff we need to clean up a far as little mistakes and mental mistakes,” Hudgins said.

Hudgins thinks that this is a great start to the season.

“If we just continue to just compete and try to get better every single day, take it week by week, I think we can have a successful season,” Hudgins said.

The Jaguars will play at Blue Valley NW High School Thursday, Sept, 8.