By ROBERT B. ROAN

RESERVE – While it is customary to be a gracious guest at a homecoming celebration, the Terrebonne High School Tigers executed this notion of etiquette Friday night to the extreme.

The visitors from Houma were ground up and run over, 49-14, by the East St. John High School Wildcats as an offensive message was overtly delivered to the home team’s first round playoff opponent. Utilizing the gifted arm of sophomore quarterback Ryan Perrilloux and the junior tandem of tailback Derron Thomas and flanker Reggie Joseph, the Wildcats dominated the district contest from the beginning bell to the ending horn.

Thomas accounted for more than 100 yards rushing and four touchdowns, while Joseph scored a pair of TDs on perfectly precise routes.

Super soph Perrilloux figuratively grabbed the homecoming crowd by its collective throat with 5:20 to go in the first quarter with an expertly timed pass to Joseph who ran a fly pattern down the right sideline. The pitch-and-catch combo set up the Wildcats at the Tigers’ 23 yard line and from there Perrilloux hit senior tight end Kavius Markey for a dozen yards and with 3:12 to go in the quarter Thomas burst up the middle and into the endzone for the score.

Not to be outdone, the Wildcats’ underrated defensive squad, led by senior bookends Vegas Franklin and Kirston Pittman and juniors Chris Favors and Randy Jackson, repeatedly smashed through the interior of the Tigers’ offensive line to completely disrupt any and every play. Except for a pair of series in the third quarter, the Tigers never mounted a serious offensive threat to the playoff-minded Wildcats defenders.

On the first play of the second quarter, Perrilloux hooked up with Joseph for a 50-yard touchdown strike and the ESJ band began its walk to the field early for the halftime festivities. The boisterous crowd, which enjoyed a pre-game display of end-of-regular-season fireworks, had barely a chance to finish talking about the previous score, when Thomas corralled an option pitchout from Perrilloux at the THS 40-yard line and proceeded to run through what seemed like a baker’s dozen of Tigers’ defenders in route to a dazzling touchdown.

The jaunt, which covered a great deal of good earth (Terrebonne in French), featured a jarring stiff-arm, a top-like spin and an across the field sprint to the goal line. The point after kick was good by sophomore Alex McCollum and the scoreboard read 21-0 in favor the home team.

With four minutes remaining in the first half, the Tigers managed to fumble the football twice, on separate drives, on or near the Wildcats’ two yard line. The slippery feat brought head shakes from even the most seasoned sports writers in the press box and an exclamation of exasperation from a THS assistant coach.

“We’re snakebit! Snakebit I tell you,” he screamed as the Wildcats ran out the scant seconds remaining on the clock.

Following the crowning of the homecoming queen, the Wildcats wasted little time in lighting up the scoreboard. Perrilloux connected with senior flanker Travis Joseph on consecutive slant patterns, the latter covering 52 yards, and Thomas closed out the brief drive with an off-tackle, six-yard run for a score with 10:25 to go in the quarter.

The Tigers took advantage of mis-tackling by the Wildcats and an uncharacteristic face mask penalty to score a pair of touchdowns in less than two minutes to pull within 14 points of the home team.

But the Wildcats responded with a single play as Thomas romped through the defensive line on a trap and dashed around the end for 63 yards and a score.

The stadium, filled with what seemed to be as many college scouts as parents and students, erupted with two minutes gone in the final quarter as Perrilloux hooked up with Reggie Joseph on a 36-yard out-and-up pattern for a touchdown and following an admirable defensive stand, Markey finished the scoring with a 15-yard burst up the middle with a little over four minutes left in the contest.