SULPHUR — Kinder’s District 3-3A debut was a ton of fun for half a quarter as the Yellow Jackets traded touchdowns with St. Louis Catholic.

But the Saints defense showed up with three consecutive stops to close the half as they pulled away for a 45-14 win Thursday night.

A wild first quarter featured five touchdowns in 6 minutes as St. Louis took a 21-14 lead. Graham Fawcett scored on an 80-yard run on the first play from scrimmage.

The Jackets (1-2, 0-1) scored on their next possession with Jordan Pelican scoring on a 61-yard run.

St. Louis (3-1, 1-0) scored on their first four possessions. Brooks Habetz scored on a 39-yard pass from James Reina, who scored on a 5-yard run on the next drive. Han Milligan added a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Saints a 21-14 lead.

Landon Daughdrill added a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter to give the Saints a 24-14 lead at the break.

Reina completed his first seven pass attempts and finished the half with 160 passing yards and 39 rushing yards.

Kinder ran for 281 yards in the half, led by Fawcett’s 114 on six carries. The Jackets reached Saints territory twice in the second quarter, but lost a fumble once and turned the ball over on downs.

The Saints needed two plays to add to the lead in the third quarter with Reina scoring on a 51-yard run down the left sideline to stretch the lead to 31-14.

Gavin Phillips recovered a fumble on the ensuing Kinder possession, setting up a 4-yard Milligan touchdown run. Reina scored again on an 8-yard run later in the quarter.

Pelican finished with 125 yards to lead Kinder. Fawcett added 122. The Yellow Jackets ran for 423 yards.

Reina finished with 103 yards on 10 carries. He completed 11 of 12 passes for 183 yards. Habetz had 72 receiving yards on three catches while Grant Evans made four catches for 88 yards.

St. Louis travels to play South Beauregard next week while Kinder will host Iowa.