After a 32-28 classic last year between the North Iberville Bears and the St. John Eagles, the game was once again a nailbiter right down to the very end this time in a back and forth high scoring affair with the North Iberville Bears continuing their undefeated season via a 50-44 shootout against St. John.
“When we needed it the most, our playmakers stepped up, and they are going to remember this for a while.”
North Iberville HC Joshua Gast
The Bears’ offensive trio of QB Justice Roy, RB Jeremy Favorite, and WR Brajon Melancon all made plays in order for North Iberville to get the victory.
The game started with a bang as the Bears first got on the board with a 92 yard touchdown run from Jeremy Favorite to give North Iberville an 8-0 lead with the help of a Roy two point conversion.
St. John showed all night that the Bears were going to have to earn it in order to get the win early as Tyler Edwards kept it on the quarterback read and took it 44 yards for the touchdown. The Eagles were able to match the Bears’ score with a Nathan Burleigh two point conversion at 8 a piece.
The Bears would respond scoring on back to back drives and for the second drive in a row, Jeremy Favorite punched the ball in for the touchdown this time from a much shorter distance at two yards out to give North Iberville a 16-8 lead after the Jaylen Mims two-point conversion.
“If we didn’t have that start, we probably don’t win the game. I got to give it up to my offensive line and my wide receivers. They did a great job of blocking for me all night.”
North Iberville RB Jeremy Favorite
To start the second quarter, Brajon Melancon showed his explosive playmaking ability taking a screen and bring it 83 yards for the touchdown to extend the Bears’ lead to 22-8.
The Eagles had a great drive in response going down the field in six minutes by converting on a fourth down and a third down and goal to narrow the Bears’ lead at 22-16 with a seven yard touchdown run from Ahmad Wilson as well as a two point conversion from Nathan Burleigh.
Melancon showed that he is just as much as a threat in the run game as in the pass game when he took the ball on a sweep play for a 14 yard touchdown to give North Iberville a 28-16 lead going into halftime.
To start the second half, St. John got the football and had another Eagles esque touchdown drive methodically moving the football down the field and having their bellcow bruising fullback Nathan Burleigh score a touchdown once again putting the Eagles within striking range at 28-22.
Brajon Melancon continued his excellent night with his third touchdown of the game including his second receiving touchdown of the game to respond to the Eagles touchdown drive and extend their lead to 14 with a 36-22 lead.
“The playmaking ability comes from the whole team. We worked the plays during practice so I know what I am looking for and what I am seeing. We run it a million times and by the time we get to the game, those plays just come natural. Everybody is going to do their job and I am going to do mine.”
North Iberville WR Brajon “BJ” Melancon
The Eagles’ bread and butter play worked to perfection for their next touchdown as the double handoff play went for paydirt as running back Ahmad Wilson handed the ball off to Daniel Braud for a 23-yard touchdown. St. John continued to go to their bag of tricks on the two-point conversion with Wilson throwing a pass and completing it on a trick play to Braud to make it 36-30.
With both teams trading scores, St. John needed to steal a possession, and they did just that when Burleigh recovered the onside kick for the Eagles giving them the ball back.
Burleigh was rewarded with recovering the onside kick by scoring his second touchdown of the game to tie the game up at 36 a piece early in the fourth quarter.
After back to back long drives by St. John, North Iberville got the ball back and reminded everyone how explosive they can score. Justice Roy threw his third touchdown pass of the game to a wide open Aiden Melancon from 42 yards out to give the Bears the lead back at 44-36 with another Favorite two point conversion.
It seemed that the Bears finally could catch the break when Brajon Melancon made an interception on defense on fourth down to give North Iberville the ball back, but a costly fumble the next play forced by St. John’s Landen Daigle gave the Eagles the football back in prime scoring position at the six yard line.
Ahmad Wilson took it from there on his second touchdown of the game while scoring the tying two point conversion at 44-44.
After fumbling on the last possession, North Iberville quarterback Justice Roy made up for the mistake and then some with a go ahead and eventual game winning touchdown run from 46 yards out to make it a 50-44 game with less than two minutes remaining. It was an incredible run by Roy who broke multiple tackles and kept his balance running it to the end zone.
“I just kept on moving my feet and trusted my guys to continue to block. After that, I saw the end zone.”
North Iberville QB Justice Roy
St. John got one more chance to tie or even get the win, but a couple of low snaps ended the drive and preserved another close win for the Bears.
For head coach Joshua Gast and the Bears, they continue their undefeated season at 6-0 with four of those wins being decided by six points or less.
“I’m excited about it. Last year, we did not have a lot of close games early on and we have gone against some tough opponents, dog fights, and I think it kind of prepared us for tonight. Adversity was looking us in the eyes everywhere we looked. I am so proud of our guys being able to dig deep in clutch moments.”
North Iberville HC Joshua Gast
“We lost some key pieces, but everybody else got better. We just kept sharpening that knife. Last year was last year. We are the 2025 Bears and not the 2024 Bears. We are trying to kick down that door and show that last year was not a fluke. We set the bar high and we are here to stay.”
North Iberville WR Brajon “BJ” Melancon
For the St. John Eagles, it was a valiant effort and head coach Bryan Troxclair has got the team still playing at a high level coming off a win against Covenant Christian the week prior and already having more wins at this point of the season with four than last year (three).
Next week, North Iberville will try to keep their undefeated record intact taking on White Castle while St. John will take on Ascension Catholic.
Postgame Interviews:
67
0
24.77k
20
