By Damian Juneau

Special to the American Press

The Jennings Bulldogs rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Lake Charles College Prep Trailblazers 27-23 Friday night for a District 3-3A victory.

Jennings (3-6, 3-2) trailed 23-13 going into the fourth quarter before rallying for the victory. The first score in the fourth quarter came with 8:30 to play when Liam LeBlanc scored on a 2-yard run.

LCCP (3-6, 2-3) was looking to pull ahead 23-20 but a bad snap turned the ball over to Jennings on the LCCP 26-yard line.

The Bulldogs drove to the 1-yard line with 1:13 to play. Jamaric McZeal’s 1-yard touchdown score with 1:09 to play was the winner.

“We were down in the fourth quarter as they gave us excellent field position all night,” said Jennings head coach Rusty Phelps. “We kept chipping away with and we found some plays that we liked, and our guys executed and kept working all game.”

The Trailblazers got the first points on the board after forcing a Bulldogs fumble on the Trailblazers 20. Dylen Rubin scored on a 10-yard run for a 7-0 lead with 7:41 to play in the first quarter.

Jennings answered with a 6-minute drive, tying the score at 7-7 on a 29-yard touchdown pass from J.J. Benoit to ReJohn Zeno.

The next drive saw Jennings block an LCCP punt that was recovered by Jennings on the LCCP 5-yard line. On the next play, Zeno scored on a 5-yard run to take a 13-7 lead.

“We had that blocked punt in the second quarter,” Phelps said. “It really gave our guys some momentum to keep pushing and executing.”

The Trailblazers looked to regain the lead in the next drive. Courtland Collins scored on a 47-yard run to take a 15-13 lead with 4:58 to play. The Trailblazers were driving late in the second quarter before a lightning delay with 1:19 to play.

The game resumed and two plays later Josiah Bushell threw a 7-yard pass to Eric Beloney on fourth down to take a 23-13 lead with 31 seconds left before halftime.

Jennings finished with 141 rushing yards and 48 passing yards. Zeno led the way on the ground with 25 carries for 108 yards.

“I’m so proud of guys tonight and happy for these kids as it’s been a long time since we beat LCCP and they have had our number,” Phelps said. “LCCP has a really good football team with a great coaching staff as it was a great high school football game in Week 9.”

LCCP finished with 161 rushing yards and 81 passing yards. Collins led the way on the ground with 100 yards on five carries. Beloney finished with four receptions for 37 yards.