St. Edmund goes to Texas and rolls to victory in Catholic Bowl

Blue Jays overcome slow start to cruise to 40-14 win.

By Cody Thorn  

FRISCO, Texas — St. Edmund Catholic School didn’t want to travel more than 400 miles and come away empty-handed. 

The Fighting Blue Jays overcame a sluggish start and rolled to a 40-14 win against Plano (Texas) John Paul II in the first of three games held Saturday in the Ford Center during the 2nd annual Catholic Bowl.

St. Edmund, located in Eunice, rattled off 34 unanswered points and picked up a win against the Cardinals - which lost 38-31 to Houston St. Thomas in the inaugural edition of the event.

“It's just an amazing experience; you know not every team gets to come and play in Texas, especially in the Dallas Cowboys' indoor practice facility,” said St. Edmund senior Taylor Daire, who was a star in the victory. “So it's very exciting.

"We have a lot of horses. We come from a small town and we got to bring our talent to Texas.”

Both teams entered with 0-1 records and were fairly competitive in the first half of play.

John Paul II, coming off an unintended bye week after a game against Fort Worth Lake Country was called last week, jumped ahead early.

The Cardinals got a 51-yard run by senior Justin Blancaflor on a keeper, where he ran up the middle and ran nearly untouched toward the goal line.

St. Edmund answered on the next drive on a 3-yard run by Daire. The point after attempt was missed - an area that helped the Plano school maintain the lead a few times.

Sophomore quarterback Ryan Zabbia hit junior Blake McKenna for a 79-yard touchdown to help John Paul II extend the lead to 14-6 with 6:40 left in the first quarter.

That turned out to be the last score for the Cardinals, though they maintained the lead a bit longer.

The Blue Jays pulled within two points seconds later when Daire took the kickoff and ran it back 80 yards for a score. A conversion attempt failed, leaving it 14-12.

St. Edmund got to the John Paul II 2-yard line midway through the second quarter, but fumbled the ball. McKenna recovered it in the end zone for a touchback - allowing the Plano team to maintain the lead.

The Blue Jays scored late in the first half to take the lead for the first time.

Passes by quarterback Kane West to sophomore Marcus Gradney and Daire moved the Blue Jays from their own 38 to the Cardinals’ 38.

Daire’s second catch of the drive, for 29 yards, moved the ball to the 6. That set up a pass from West to classmate Blake Moran, a sophomore receiver, for 6 yards with two seconds left.

That gave the Blue Jays an 18-14 lead at halftime.

The Louisianans - which wore a sticker of their state flag on the back of the helmet - just padded the lead in the second half.

Daire’s third score was a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down, which saw him get stopped at the goal line, but a late push gave him the boost he needed to score.

A pooch kick seconds later was recovered by St. Edmund’s senior Blake Summerlin, which led to another scoring drive.

West hit Daire for a 10-yard touchdown pass, and Daire then passed to freshman Kevon Johnson for a two-point conversion.

“I think our kids knew we could execute, but in the first half we didn't do a great job of executing. But in the second half, we really did a good job,” St. Edmund coach James Shiver said.

The scoring barrage ended on a defensive touchdown when St. Edmund junior Copeland Miller hit Zabbia and forced a fumble. Summerlin picked it up and ran it back 10 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Each team had five total turnovers and each threw three interceptions. The last three offensive possessions for the Cardinals were fumble, interception and interception.

Sophomore Henry Summerlin had a pair of interceptions for the Blue Jays in the second half, while senior Caesar Alex had two for John Paul II.

Johnson was the toughest to bring down as he ran for 231 yards on 36 carries.

"It's an awesome experience to represent the state and have an opportunity like this, and we're just very thankful and very humbled for being here,” Shiver said. “It really highlights your faith and it is neat to see other how other Catholic schools work in other places.

"It's just amazing and it's been amazing. If they will have us back, we will be happy to come back.”