Originally appeared on CrescentCitySports.com
BATON ROUGE – The Chicago Bears are known as the “Monsters of the Midway.” On Thursday, the Catholic High School Bears played like the “Monsters of Mid-City.”
Catholic (1-0) opened its 2019 season with a bang, obliterating Parkview Baptist 62-7 at Memorial Stadium.
The 55-point margin of victory was the biggest in the history of the series between the two schools. The previous mark had been 30 points, also by the Bears, back in 2014.
Catholic also broke the series record for points scored in a single game. They tied the previous record of 55 points in the first half.
Quarterback Jackson Thomas spearheaded the offense by engineering seven consecutive scoring drives, and completing nine of his 14 pass attempts for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bears were dominant in the running game, picking up 244 yards on 25 carries. Senior Josh Parker led the way with 103 yards and a score on eight attempts.
It didn’t hurt that Catholic started only three of its first half drives on its own side of the 50 yard line. Thanks to it’s an outstanding defensive effort, the Bears had three possessions that began inside the Eagles’ 35 yard line.
The defense put up six points of its own when Michael Cerniaukas picked off Cade Pearl and returned the interception 31 yards for a touchdown.
Pearl was harassed all evening long. He finished the night 13-for-25 through the air for 104 yards, one touchdown while throwing two picks.
Parkview (0-1) never stood a chance. The Eagles had more turnovers (3) than first downs (2) at the half. They were held to two rushing yards over the first 24 minutes and were outgained 308 to 44 in total offense.
The onslaught ended with Braelen Morgan’s 25 yard touchdown run to cap Catholic’s only drive of the third quarter.
The running clock was the only thing that kept the game from getting any worse.
Parkview got on the board late when Pearl connected with Christian Williams on a 19 yard touchdown pass, but it was far too little and far too late.
Catholic goes on the road next week to face North Little Rock High School (Ark.) in Shreveport, while Parkview will look to rebound at home against Slaughter Community Charter.