SULPHUR — Heavy-hearted Jennings found its stride offensively and pulled away from St. Louis 62-42 Friday night in a District 4-3A opener.

The Bulldogs (2-4, 1-0) were mourning the loss of longtime supporter and school administrator Danny Reed, who died Thursday.

“We lost a true Bulldog; it was a tough day (Thursday),” Jennings head coach Rusty Phelps said. “Our kids, at some point and time, and you look in the crowd, he touched the lives of so many people through athletics, being a teacher, through administration. Our kids and coaches were upset. I’m proud of our team.”

Reed’s grandson, Ryan Reed, scored on a 10-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs ran for more than 400 yards, with quarterback Trevor Etienne (119 yds., 3 TDs) and running backs Jamaric McZeal (226 yds., 2 TDs) and Rejohn Zeno (131 yds., 3 TDs) leading the way.

“Our offense executed well,” Phelps said. “I hope we can build off this one. We had to figure out how people are going to play us with Trevor at quarterback. I think he did a tremendous job throwing the ball tonight, completing some passes downfield.

“I’m proud of him. Our kids are fighting. We were 0-3 last year and are 3-4 now with a big one (a home game against undefeated Iowa) coming up next week.”

Jennings ran for 310 yards in the second half, scoring touchdowns on all five possessions.

St. Louis (3-3, 0-1) kept close with a dynamic passing game but could not keep up. Quarterback James Reina threw for 404 yards and five touchdowns. Grant Evans had nine catches for 229 yards and three touchdowns. Marcus Duhon added 11 catches for 162 yards and two touchdowns.

Jennings dominated the opening quarter, piling up 152 yards of offense and scoring on runs of 6 and 16 yards by Etienne and 72 yards by McZeal.

St. Louis pulled to within 21-14 in the second quarter when Duhon hauled in a 27-yard touchdown catch on a fourth down.

Jennings answered before the half, with McZeal scoring on a 16-yard burst up the middle to make it 28-14 at the half.

McZeal ran for 107 yards in the half. Reina was 12 of 14 for 166 yards in the half. He connected with Evans on a 37-yard touchdown in the first quarter.