MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / October 4, 2000

EDGARD – The momentum of West St. John’s game at Newman Thursdaynight changed in a flick of an eye.

With the West St. John offense struggling early in the second half,quarterback Randall Nicholson handed off to Devin Herbert at the Rams 20.

Herbert then handed the ball to Haven Gaudet on the reverse with Gaudet flipping the ball back to Nicholson. Nicholson found Davin Farnell wide open onthe right sidelines for a 64-yard gain to the Newman 16. The Rams scored onthe drive and went on for a 18-16 victory.

“We were struggling offensively,” West St. John coach Laury Dupont said. “Itgave us the big play and from then on, we moved the football. It was kind of agutsy call but it proved to be the right call. You win some, you lose some andwe won on that one.” The game was not decided until the final two minutes when Sandy Harris sacked Damion Carter at the West St. John 30 and Todd Rhoden’s ensuingfield goal attempt was wide left.

The victory improved West St. John to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in District 9-2A.The Rams have now won their last four games.

Herbert gained 98 yards and scored twice in the game on 17 carries, giving him 525 yards and nine touchdowns on 72 attempts. Jamailar Mayho added14 yards and a touchdown on three carries as the Rams rushed for 111 yards in the game.

Nicholson completed 12-of-22 passes for 199 yards with seven of them going to Aaron Sylvain for 117 yards.

The Rams held Newman to 248 yards in offense. The pass defense allowedjust 88 yards.

With the loss of Amone Lumar, the Rams did have trouble on special teams.

Lumar, who handled the team’s kicking duties as well as playing defensive tackle and running back, broke his leg in practice last week and is out for the season.

West St. John hosts Buras this week in a District 7-5A matchup. Kickoff isscheduled for 7 p.m.The Wildcats are coming off a 45-20 loss to Belle Chasse in non-district play Friday night, dropping to 1-4 overall. The Wildcats are 0-1 in district after aloss to Riverside two weeks ago.

Buras gained 357 yards against Belle Chasse, 208 coming on the ground.

Scott Riley scored on runs of 81 and 26 yards. He now has rushed for over450 yards on the season. But the Wildcats also allowed 430 yards to theCardinals, including 345 yards rushing.

The quarterback is Travis Riley. Matt Riley joins the other two Rileys in thebackfield. Corun Riley and Josh Sylve are the receivers and Jerome Jones thetight end. Zack Bartholomew is the lone senior on an inexperienced offensiveline. Bartholomew is also the only senior on defense.West St. John went down to Buras last season and came home with a 55-6victory behind three touchdown passes by Carl Gauthier. The Rams gainedover 300 yards in offense while holding Buras to 170.

Next week, West St. John hosts cross-parish rival Riverside in District 7-5Aplay.

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