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By Karissa Schmidt

Jumping over the defense, senior Christian Jegen runs for a touchdown. The Jaguars defeated the St. James Thunder on Friday, Oct. 16 with a final score of 45-14.

The Jaguars defeated Saint James Academy Thunder 45-14 in their first game of district play on Friday, Oct. 16, improving the team’s record to 6-1. 

A 35-yard field goal by senior kicker Andrew Hicks scored the first points of the night, giving the Jaguars a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

From the beginning, the team’s mentality was to come out with a victory, according to senior wide receiver Lucas Krull, who said that the small details were what would matter the most.

“Our mentality was to just win,” Krull said. “But … it was the little things. We needed to do the little things right …  It’s the little errors that make the difference.”

Krull extended the Jaguars’ lead in the second quarter, catching a touchdown pass from senior quarterback Logan Koch. The PAT by Hicks was good, making the score 10-0 with 10:39 left in the first half.

Only minutes later, St. James struck back with an interception, leading to a touchdown run. The Thunder lessened their deficit to 10-7 with 8:16 remaining in the second quarter.

With 3:03 to play in the first half, St. James took a 14-10 lead after another touchdown. Before the half ended, senior wide receiver Christian Jegen completed a two-yard run for a Jaguar touchdown. The PAT attempt by Hicks was good, and the Jaguars went into halftime with a 17-14 lead.

Going into halftime with the lead was an important factor in the game, according to head coach Joel Applebee.

“Going up 17-14 at the half [was] huge,” Applebee said. “We knew we had the ball coming back out, and that was big. We made the adjustments at halftime that we needed to make, and I thought our kids really responded well second half.”

The Jaguars added two more touchdowns to the board in the third quarter, both passed by Koch and caught by Jegen and Krull, respectively. Both PATs by Hicks were good, extending the Jaguars’ lead to 31-14 to begin the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Jegen ran for his third and fourth touchdowns of the night, bringing the game to its final score of 45-14. Jegen caught a total of 10 passes for 101 yards, and completed seven carries for 55 yards versus St. James.

Krull attributes this win to the preparation the team did during the off-season.

“It’s what we’ve done before the season, all off-season,” Krull said. “We tell everyone, what we do before the season is the reason we’re winning now.”

The Jaguars will continue district play at home as they face the Bonner Springs Braves on Friday, Oct. 23.

With the playoffs being only three weeks away, Krull knows there is a possibility of the season ending shortly.

“Going into the rest of the season … [we’re] going into practices not lagging around, understanding that our season could be shorted real quick,” Krull said. “So, we have to go one game by one, win each week.”

Applebee said he believes the team will be highly prepared for next week’s game and continuing district play.

“They’re already talking about being focused and ready to go [for] next week,” Applebee said. “I have no doubt they’ll be ready.”