Going into Thursday night’s game with Breaux Bridge Christian Academy, Highland Baptist coach Artie Liuzza knew that beating the Knights was going to be a tall order.

It turned out to be a Himalayan conquest.

Albert John Louis scored three times, including two touchdowns in the first quarter when the Knights scored 31 points, as Breaux Bridge Christian beat Highland Baptist 61-6 in Louisiana Christian School Athletic Association action.

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“These guys have been playing together for four years now and you can tell their size and speed,” said Liuzza. “But what most impressed me was that in the past couple of years they’ve played smart football.

“I was impressed with those kids on the other side of the football.”

It was hard not to be impressed with BBCA Thursday.

On the first play of the game, John Louis took the ball around the right side 75 yards for a touchdown on a quarterback rollout play.

It didn’t get any better from that point.

Breaux Bridge Christian added four more touchdowns in the opening quarter and the Knights added two more scores in the second quarter to build a 43-0 lead at halftime.

The game turned out to be an example of what happens when a team playing in its first varsity season battles a team that has been playing for four years.

“Going into the game it was obvious that they were bigger and faster,” said Liuzza. “But these are the kind of games that champions thrive on. They want to play bigger, faster teams because it’s going to make them better.”

Breaux Bridge Christian coach Malcolm Orgeron understood exactly what Liuzza and Highland were going through.

“It wasn’t that long ago that we were in the same boat they are,” said Orgeron. “But they are a little better than we were when we started off. If Artie keeps them together and they follow him, they’ll be okay.”

The Knights added two more scores in the second half on a long run and a kickoff return but no matter what the difference in talent was and what the score was, the Bears never quit fighting.

“Once the team got down, we told them to keep playing hard because if you keep playing hard, the better off you’re going to be,” said Liuzza. “I think that we came out a little flat in the beginning and after that we showed some spurts. We just have to put it together and keep it going.”

The Bears avoided the shutout in late in the game as Zach Fleming ran it in from seven yards out with 12 seconds left.

Fleming finished the night completing 10 of 23 passes for 66 yards but had three interceptions. He also led the team with 17 yard rushing.

John Louis had 157 yards rushing for Breaux Bridge Christian.

After beating Natchitoches Christian in the first week of the season, Highland had to play the two schools that are expected to compete for the league title and lost 51-0 to Harvest Time Christian last week and 61-6 Thursday night.

Now the Bears will play three straight games against teams that also are in their first year of varsity football.

“I think that we match up well against our next three opponents,” said Liuzza. “I told the guys at halftime that this one got away from us but we believed that if we played 100 percent in the second half it would go better for these next three weeks coming up.”

Highland travels to New Orleans Thursday to play the Home School Saints at Pan American Stadium.