LUCAS:  The Varsity Football team traveled to Lovejoy on Friday in their first contest of the year.  The Cardinals and Leopards appeared evenly matched at first, but a number of penalties and turnovers put JPII in a 14-0 hole after the first quarter.  The Cardinal defense stepped up in the second quarter, only allowing 3 points, but the offense struggled to get into the endzone.  JPII found the endzone for the first time in the third quarter as junior quarterback Hayden Ferguson found junior receiver Tyler Bailey on a 73 yard TD strike.  Trailing 38-6 heading into the final 10 minutes, the Cardinals rallied with quarterback Chase Washington at the helm, as the junior playcaller dished it to junior Nate Washington who broke a tackle and scampered for six.  JPII hit paydirt again on their next possession as Washington hit junior Jude Nicolaidis in the back corner of the endzone for his second TD pass of the game, this time for 13 yards.  

Now 0-1, the Cardinals look ahead to their first of seven straight district matches with a road game at Bishop Lynch on Friday.  

Passing
Chase Washington 7-12, 135 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT
Hayden Ferguson 6-15, 106 YDS, 1 TD, 2 INT
Drew Forkner 4-10, 79 YDS, 1 INT

Rushing
Grant Robinson 13 RUSH, 71 YDS
Drew Forkner 6 RUSH, 13 YDS
Ben Boland 4 RUSH, 11 YDS, 1 2-PT CONV
James Knight 1 RUSH, 9 YDS
Chase Washington 2 RUSH, 9 YDS

Receiving
Tyler Bailey 7 REC, 143 YDS, 1 TD
Nate Stafford 4 REC, 79 YDS, 1 TD
Myles Parker 4 REC, 65 YDS
Jude Nicolaidis 2 REC, 20 YDS, 1 TD
Kyle Parker 1 REC, 13 YDS
Hunter Summers 1 REC, 3 YDS, 1 2-PT CONV