COVINGTON — Bogalusa’s Lumberjacks had trouble stopping Northlake Christian School’s running game and the offense struggled in a 20-6 loss in the Covington Jamboree on Friday.
Bogalusa coach David Roberts said his team didn’t contain the ball and let people get outside of them.

“Two times, we had blown coverages that cost us two touchdowns,” Roberts said.

He added that penalties and turnovers were also a problem.

“You’re not going to win with two turnovers and however many penalties we had and two blown coverages,” Roberts said.

It was the first time the Lumberjacks were able to face a different opponent. Bogalusa’s spring game and last week’s scrimmage were rained out.

The game featured a pair of 15-minute halves.

Bogalusa received the opening kickoff and was forced to punt from its 18. Northlake Christian took over at its 42 after the kick rolled to a stop.

The Wolverines picked up a first down, but Bogalusa forced them to turn the ball over on downs at the Jacks’ 39.

Bogalusa turned the ball over on second down after a low snap was bobbled and then recovered by NCS’s Chase Jenkins on the Bogalusa 41.

The Wolverines moved the ball to the 21 before getting backed up because of an illegal blocking penalty.

On fourth-and-19 at the 30, the Wolverines went for it, but Javon Tate came up with a sack at the 39.

Bogalusa went three-and-out, but was able to flip field position when the punt rolled out-of-bounds at the 20.

NCS picked up a first down at the 30. On first down, quarterback Matt Whelan rolled left, but fumbled. Bogalusa’s Tyrese Cotton picked up the loose ball at the 26 and didn’t stop. He raced up the right sideline and into the end zone, giving the Lumberjacks a 6-0 lead after Sean Forbes’ extra point was wide with 1:52 left in the first half.

Northlake Christian then went into its two-minute drill.

Facing third-and-1 at Bogalusa’s 46, Whelan found Zack Odenwald, who took it the rest of the way for a touchdown with 24 seconds remaining. Richard Humphrey’s extra point was good and the Wolverines led, 7-6, at the break.

Northlake Christian extended its lead in the second half on a halfback pass from Bogalusa’s 14. Whelan pitched the ball to Joshua Landry. Landry then threw to a wide-open Odenwald for the touchdown. Humphrey missed the PAT, keeping it 13-6 at the 9:05 mark.

The drive was set up by an interception by Andrew Ehrhardt at the Bogalusa 13.

Bogalusa began the next drive at its 27 before a flag pushed the drive back to the 17. Quarterback Tymothy Toussaint gained 12 yards on first-and-20. Then he broke off a 53-yard run. Toussaint did a nice job of making people miss and breaking a few tackles along the way. But a turnover ended the drive on first down from the NCS 23, as the Wolverines recovered a fumble on the next play with 6:42 left and took it back to the 48.

The Wolverines took the ensuing drive 52 yards and scored the game’s final touchdown on Josh Sampson’s 4-yard run. Humphrey added the extra point for a 20-6 lead with 4:58 to go.
Bogalusa drove into scoring position once again, but turned it over on downs at the NCS 12 with 1:04 left.

The Wolverines took two knees to run the clock out in the 20-6 win.

Bogalusa opens the regular season Friday against Southern Lab. The game will be played in Baton Rouge.