Bogalusa never trailed and was only tied once, as the Lumberjacks defeated South Plaquemines, 16-12, at home in the Lumberjacks’ final non-district regular season game of the 2018.

“I think all week, we probably had the best week of practice that we’ve had all year,” Bogalusa coach Adam Brumfield said. “We dealt with a lot of adversity this week, but our kids and our coaches overcame it and got a victory and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Bogalusa nearly scored on the opening drive, as the Lumberjacks took the ball to South Plaquemines’ 9, but turned it over on downs at the 13.

Bogalusa’s defense, which was solid all game, forced a punt and the Lumberjacks’ offense drove 39 yards in four plays and scored when Tyrese Rousell scored from the 4 to make it 6-0 with 2:45 left in the first quarter after the two-point conversion was no good. The key play on the drive was Rousell running 24 yards to the 12 on second-and-7.

It stayed that way until late in the second quarter.

South Plaquemines completed a 56-yard drive when Isaac Williams tallied on a two-yard run to tie the game, 6-6, following a two-point conversion that was no good. The key play was a pass from Taighan Jones to Williams for 38 yards on third-and-10 from the 40.

It was 6-6 at halftime.

Bogalusa went back in front and did so for good with 1:39 left in the third quarter. South Plaquemines had just punted and Rousell ran it back to the 43.

Jakyris Mclemore got the handoff on the first play from scrimmage, took it up the middle, broke a tackle and got free. Nobody was going to catch him and he ran 57 yards to pay dirt to give Bogalusa the lead. Rousell ran in the important two-point conversion and the Lumberjacks were up by eight points.

That conversion proved to be key, as South Plaquemines began the fourth quarter with the ball at Bogalusa’s 40 following a muffed punt that was recovered by South Plaquemines. Williams ran for 22 and then Johnson ran around the right side for the 12-yard touchdown run, trimming it to 14-12, but Bogalusa’s defense stopped the game-tying two-point conversion and kept its two-point lead with 11:25 left in the fourth.

Bogalusa added a safety at the 4:11 mark.

South Plaquemines had one last chance as they got the ball with 3:17 left, but Kobe Robertson intercepted a third-down pass with 1:24 to go and South Plaquemines ran out of timeouts to seal the victory.

Bogalusa is 2-3 this season and will open District 7-3A play on Friday by hosting Albany.