FERRIDAY — The Block Bears brought a variety of upperclassmen, underclassmen and eighth graders to play against a young Delta Charter team Monday night, which led a teaching moment for Delta Charter head coach Josh Loy at halftime.

Down 28-0 and outgained offensively 236 to negative three yards, Loy challenged his team to show some mental toughness and fortitude in the second half. His team responded. The Storm outscored the Bears 7-0 in the next two eight-minute quarters, but ultimately fell to the Bears 28-7.

“We have to come out of the gates swinging,” Loy said. “I’m proud of their second half effort, but we’re talking too many shots instead of getting after people early.”

Block’s Jacoby Norl, who rushed for 150 yards against Peabody last Friday, started against Delta Charter since he is the third-string tailback. Norl rushed for 42 yards on four carries.

Loy wasn’t sure if playing against older, athletic players would prove to be a positive or a negative for his club.

“It may not have been,” said Loy whose team doesn’t have a junior or senior on the roster. “Hindsight is 20/20. You would think you would get something out of that, but now we have a lot of guys with their confidence in the dirt that we have to try and pick up tomorrow.”

While Block was dominant in the first half, the Bears were sluggish in the second half, stalling drives with penalties and turnovers. The Bears fumbled six times and lost three of them and committed 11 penalties for 85 yards in the game. The combination of penalties and turnovers have plagued the Bears for the first four varsity games of the season, leading to an 0-4 start to their varsity season.

“I don’t know what it is,” said head coach Benny Vault. “In order for us to compete, we have to get rid of those penalties and fumbles. That’s something we work on every day.”

Delta Charter fell behind early after ninth grade quarterback Conner Branton threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown by Jerraron Harbor. Branton completed 5-of-15 passes for 46 yards, including one touchdown and four interceptions. The Storm’s lone score came on a 20-yard pass from Branton to Freddie Mango in the fourth quarter.

Block’s Zorian Bowie completed 2-of-5 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. Jacob Duncan led the Bears in rushing with 76 yards on five carries, including a 56-yard touchdown run.

Defensively, Loy was pleased with the way his defense played in the second half. Larry Scott, Tyler Heard and Rykeiez Glasper combined for six tackles for loss in the second half.

With the loss, Delta Charter is now 1-3 in junior varsity competition this year. Loy and the Storm will find out if they have enough students to become accepted by the Louisiana High School Athletic Association in October to play varsity football next season.