Blowout: King’s Academy extends winning streak to four games

BOCA RATON – Saint John Paul (3-4) had its hands full with No. 9 King’s Academy (5-1) on Friday night (Oct. 7).

It was homecoming night at St. John Paul II (SJPII) and I believe King’s Academy took that a little personal, as any team would.

Let me explain.

Anytime a team schedules you for their homecoming, they look at that as an “easy game”. It was not the case for SJPII as this game ended in a 44-0 home loss to King’s Academy.

Things would start off slow for the Lions. But once they got rolling, it was no looking back and complete domination on both sides of the ball.

Sophomore duo quarterback Joe Dailey and wideout Javian Jones put on a show as they connected three times for touchdowns.

Joe Dailey (left) and Javian Jones (right)

The Dailey-Jones Show started halfway through the first on a wheel route with Jones wide open. Midway through the second quarter, they would connect again to push the lead to 21-0.

Their last touchdown came midway through the third quarter to make it 44-0.

“We were great, my boy Joe.” Jones said. “He had enough time to throw it outside the pocket and make things happen.”

Dailey expanded on how the sophomore duo performed.

“I barely got hit today,” Dailey said. “The line helped me out a lot. We were taking care of business.”

Junior Marion Victor also scored for the Lions going into the second quarter.

“That was all thanks to my line,” Victor said as he spoke on how he was able to run the ball and find open lanes.

The offensive line for King’s Academy was stellar, as Thomas Cornett and Jacobs Eagle led the charge. Tight ends Jackson Worley and Cory McEnroe were great contributors to keeping Dailey upright the whole night.

Kicker Nicholas Cueto would contribute to the Lions scoring party with his 37-yard field goal right before halftime. It started the running clock for the second half as it was now 37-0.

The Lions defense was lights out as they recorded four interceptions on the night and shut SJPII down the entire night all the way down to the last whistle.

(L-R) Jermaine Council, Turner Lacy, RJ Tolbert

Senior defensive back Turner Lacy got things started on defense as he was able to stretch and literally scoop the ball up right before it hit the ground for an interception that shifted the momentum in this game.

“We started off a little slow on offense,” Lacy said. “Interception turned things around and gave us the momentum to score quick.”

Junior defensive back Jermaine Council scored for the Lions on a pick-six and outran everybody down the sideline for 52 yards untouched.

“I seen lack of confidence from the quarterback,” Council said. “I was reading the the quarterback. The wideout broke on his curl route. I read it right and came up with the pick”

Senior outside linebacker RJ Tolbert put on a clinic as he harassed the Eagles offense all night. Tolbert recorded a pick-six, a big tackle for loss, and multiple quarterback pressures.

“My coach always told me 45, which is 45 degrees,” Tolbert said. “Once we see it’s pass, I read the second man in the slot and he was going for an out route and I jumped it.”

Tolbert expanded on the Lions defensive unit’s effort.

“Our game is to always come out and punch them in the mouth, no matter who’s out there,” Tolbert said.

Junior linebacker Daniel Johnson sealed the Lions shutout as he intercepted the SJPII quarterback as they tried to score with seconds left in the game.

Head coach Ben McEnroe spoke on his team’s win and how they were hitting on all cylinders.

“Joe and Javian have a great connection, both sophomores,” McEnroe said. “Our offense did a great job. I’m proud of how they protected.”

King’s Academy’s defense has been lights out all year and only allowed 12 points to be scored on them in the last three games.

McEnroe spoke on the defense keeping the Eagles out of the end zone all night.

“It starts with our coaches and how they teach our players that was a big part of it,” McEnroe said. “We had a good beat on what they were doing. Defense came to play tonight. Anytime you get a shutout, that’s a big deal.”