by Jordan Arceneaux/Special to AcadianaPostgame.com

CHURCH POINT— The Church Point Battlin' Bears and Jennings Bulldogs combined for 1,183 yards and 104 points in a track meet resulting in a 62-42 Bears' victory at home Friday night.

Each team punted once, but it was three Jennings' turnovers that made the difference in the game and helped Church Point start the year 4-0.

"We did get a few stops at critical times," said Church Point head coach John Craig Arceneaux. "They (Jennings) turned the football over. We were able to take those turnovers and turn them into points. That ends up being the difference in the game."

Bears' quarterback got things started with a 2-yard run for the first points of the game. A failed 2-point conversion gave Church Point a 6-0 lead.

On the Bulldogs next drive, quarterback Kendrick LeJeune found Taylor Joseph for a 14-yard touchdown pass to give his team a 7-6 advantage.

Frederick Williams scored on runs of two and 41 yards to put Church Point ahead 22-7.

Jennings' running back Travis Etienne scored on a 69-yard burst to cut Church Points lead. Etienne scored on a 39-yard run with 2:49 left in the half, but Church Point's DeShaun Wheeler's 3-yard run gave the Bears a 42-19 halftime lead.

Williams scored two more touchdowns and Matte finished the scoring with a 9-yard run.

Etienne scored three times in the second half, finishing the night with 391 yards on 20 carries with five touchdowns. The junior has scored 12 touchdowns in the last two weeks.

"That young man has been carrying us and you have to worry about his carries and workload," Phelps said. "We're going to keep working to get other people involved." We have a short week and turn around and play Thursday night."

Arceneaux said even though his team had a double-digit lead throughout the game, he felt the Bulldogs were just a few plays away with Etienne in the backfield.

"We knew we were coming here to play a football game and possibly a track meet could break out, because that's the kind of games Jennings has been playing," he said. "Anytime you have Travis Etienne on the field, no lead is safe. We knew it would take 48 minutes to finish it out."

Williams finished with 322 total yards and five scores. Kylance Castille earned 133 yards on 16 carries and Trey Babineaux had 106 yards and a score on 14 attempts. The Bears totaled 581 yards rushing.

The Bulldogs (1-3) have given up at least 40 points in every game so far this season.

"Give them(Church Point) a lot of credit;they have a good football team," said Jennings head coach Rusty Phelps. "They have a very talented running game. It's been four weeks now where big plays keep biting us.We're going to go to work in the morning and just like everybody else and try to get this thing corrected."

Arceneaux said although his team is undefeated, they still have a lot of work to do.

"We have a very good 4A team in Franklinton that's going to present a lot of problems for us," he said. "We've gotten to be the team we are by not looking ahead, by looking and playing week-by-week.

Church Point hosts Franklinton next Friday and Jennings is home Thursday against Lake Arthur.

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