J. EDMUND BARNES

PHOTO: Adam Brown of East St. John High School runs around the pile.(Photo for L’Observateur by Tommy Williams) DESTREHAN – Some in the Riverside Academy camp might be disappointed by their 12-0 loss to East St. John High School. That would overlook the fact that the tiny (in numbers) school held a 5A powerhouse to only 12 points in 30 minutes of playing. It would also ignore a performance by the Wildcats that head coach Ronnie Stephens called “Sluggish.” By the end of the game, the Wildcats had come to grips with the Rebels, scoring on a 29 yard touchdown throw from Chance Blank to Jerome James in the first half and on an 8 yard run by Adam Brown in the second half. The game saw little offensive fireworks from either team. The first offensive play of the game saw Riverside’s Jared St. Amant running for five yards,while in the next play Britt Waguespack ran for six yards. The Rebels were to rely on this one – two combination of Waguespack and St. Amant for the entire game, while quarterback Scott Poirrier’s aerial attack was somewhat diminished. Poirrier was 6 for 2 without an interception for 15 yards of offense, though he had better luck as part of the ground attack, rushing for 12 yards in the second half. The Wildcats spread the ball around more, going with a running back by committee approach that saw five players pound the ball into, and often through, the Rebel line. The majority of the damage was done by Brown and Jason Jones. By the end of the evening the Wildcats had run for 128 yards. Blank’s arm provided another 79 yards of offense, and between the running and the passing the Wildcat’s got 10 first downs to the Rebel’s 5. The Wildcat’s first scoring drive was on a seven play 60 attack that was finished by Blank throwing five yard pass to Brown with only 1:03 left to go in the game. Their second touchdown came on an eight yard run by Brown after another 60 yard drive that took six plays. Brown carried the ball three times for 30 yards in the drive. Again, the field goal was no good. “I’m proud of our effort,” said Riverside coach Mick Roussel. “We’re still 0-0. We’re going to look at the film and get ready for the first game of the season.” Roussel said senior leader ship, two running backs like Waguespack and St. Amant, and a winning tradition are a good starting point for a winning program. “The key is to control the ball. Britt (Waguespack) and Jared (St. Amant) can move the ball around. We came out healthy. I’m happy,” said Roussel. “We had an opportunity,” said Waguespack after the game. “We’ve got to equal out the passing and running to equal out the game.” “It was a typical jamboree,” said coach Stephens. “We came out of it with no injuries. Overall we had a good performance.” “I felt good,” said James. “I’ll be more aggressive next time.”