ERATH — It was reading hour starting at 7 p.m. Friday inside Bobcat Stadium, home of the Erath Bobcats.

Loreauville’s Tigers and their head coach, Terry Martin, appreciated the lesson from senior quarterback Calep Jacob. The lesson plan wasn’t written necessarily for Jacob to rush for 181 yards on nine carries and the game’s first touchdown on a 43-yard gallop around left end but that’s the way it worked out, according to Martin.

“Those were all reads. He was taking it pretty wide. Those were pretty much all read plays,” Loreauville’s head coach said minutes after the Class 2A Tigers opened the 2021 season with a resounding 41-15 victory over the Class 3A Bobcats.

Jacob, known more for on-target aerial bombs to twin brother Collin Jacob, had two 43-yard rushes, a 46-yard run, two rushing touchdowns and a 29-yard scoring pass to his brother as LHS surged to a 28-8 lead with 4:49 to play in the second quarter.

The Tigers’ Ethan Simon caught an 11-yard pass from Jacob at the EHS 12 about a minute later but fumbled before he crossed the goal line. Collin Jacob was Johnny-on-the-spot and recovered for a touchdown that gave LHS a halftime lead of 34-8.

An unexpected downpour soaked the players and the field for the last six minutes of the second quarter. That was the last pass for the senior quarterback, who finished 4-for-9 for 96 yards.

“For the most part, he threw it well, the few balls we threw. We didn’t throw it much once it started raining. We decided not to throw as much,” Martin said about that wet period in the waning minutes of the first half.

“I think all the skill guys we expected to play well played well,” he said.

Loreauville’s defense recovered two Bobcat fumbles and intercepted a Lynkon Romero pass on the first play of the second half. The Tigers gave up scoring passes of 22 and 39 yards from Romero to speedy David Richard.

Otherwise, LHS limited the hosts to 128 yards rushing, most of it in the second half after defensive subs took over, and bottled up the Bobcats.

“Overall, we played well defensively. We’re really inexperienced at linebacker. A couple times they ran the ball right at us. We knew they were real physical running the ball,” Martin said. “They scored that one in the first half. He (Romero) threw the ball well and the kid (Richard) made a good play on the ball.”

LHS got even more inexperienced at linebacker in the second half when leg issues sidelined two starters. A sophomore and a freshman replaced them.

The Tigers’ other touchdowns were delivered by Simon, who scored on 4-yard run late in the first quarter and on a 3-yard run early in the third quarter as the visitors capitalized on the interception. The senior rushed for 55 yards on eight carries while Evan Simon, a junior, carried seven times for 50 yards.

Loreauville travels to play North Vermilion on Friday while EHS is at DeQuincy.