MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / Febuary 11, 1999

EDGARD – It is an image that will last a long time in the minds of West St. John fans.

Donriel Louis, using all of his six-foot-two frame, leaping over Riverside receiver Keith Leblanc to intercept Joey Poirrier’s pass at the West St.

John 8-yard line with 11 seconds left, preserving the Rams 28-23 victory in the Class 2A state championship game in December.

But it was not the first time that Louis has helped a team win a championship. In April 1997, Louis scorched St. Charles Parish for 41points, leading the St. John Warriors to a 113-79 victory in the NationalPre-Prep championship game in Houma. It was the first time a team fromSt. John Parish had brought home a national championship.Louis, a freshman at West St. John at the time, used the fundamentals helearned from that game to have a stellar sophomore year. Louis led theRams to the regional playoffs in their first season in Class 2A, averaging 22.3 points per game and pulling down 9.8 rebounds per game in beingnamed L’Obser-vateur’s River Parishes MVP.

“The fundamentals I learned, I took with me and it helped me out,” Louis said. “My teammates helped me out and helped me with my game.”Louis came through in the big games that season, scoring 25 points against St. Charles Catholic in the game that wrapped up the district title. The following week in the bi-district playoffs, Newman took a 32-30 lead late in the third quarter. Louis then took over, scoring six straight pointsto give the Rams a lead that would not let go. He would finish with ateam-high 14 points.

A loss to McCall in the regionals ended the Rams’ dreams of a trip to the Top 28 tournament in Lafayette. Dreams of a state football championshipin 1998 also looked to fall apart as the Rams got off to an 0-2 start. WestSt. John would bounce back to win three straight but then fell at home toRiverside to have its six year district winning streak broken.

The Rams recovered to place second in district and advance to the state playoffs. Against Vinton in the quarterfinals, the Rams fell behind 12-0early before pulling out the victory. It was after that game that Louis saidthe team realize it could win the state championship.

“We were down and we came back,” Louis said. “The team showed a lot ofheart.”Another come-from-behind win the following week against Loyola set up a rematch against Riverside in the state championship game. Louis caught a23-yard scoring pass to start a 28-point second quarter explosion for the Rams who took a 28-2 lead at halftime.

The Rebels rallied in the second half to pull to within 28-23 and were driving for the possible winning score when Louis grabbed the biggest catch of his career.

“The championship was the greatest thing that has happened to me,” Louis said. “The memory will be with me until I die.”Louis took little time going from the football field back to the basketball court. He is currently seventh in the metro area in Class 2A, averaging15.5points a game, as the Rams are off to a 14-5 start. One reason his scoring is down a tad from last season is that Louis is getting the ball to his teammates more.

“My goal is to play more team ball and give more effort,” Louis said of the 1998-99 season.

The junior said he is planning on going to college after he graduates and playing football and basketball at the next level.

But before that happens he wants to help lead another West St. John teamto the top.

“I have a lot of confidence we will win in basketball too,” Louis said. “Wehave to take it one game at a time. But if we come together, we can winthe whole thing.”

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