BY DAVID FOLSE II

Sports Editor

Rebuilding years in high school football aren’t always suppose to be successful ones.

Don’t tell that to the East St. John football team.

Junior wide receiver Ricky Dixon and pair of seniors, tight end Jamal Breaux and offensive lineman Kerry Raymond helped pace East St. John to a nine-win season in 2004 and put the Wildcats two games away from playing for a state championship.

In recognition of their success, the trio was named to the 6-5A All-District team.

Losing so many talented seniors from a year ago, ESJ head coach Larry Dauterive was happy to see his players get post-season recognition.

“It was a whole new team this year for us,” Dauterive said. “19 new starters. We lost everything from last year. It was a rebuilding year, but we still won nine games and those guys got their due.”

One of top targets in the high-powered ESJ offensive attack, Dixon had an unbelievable season at wide receiver. The junior hauled in 61 passes for 1,109 yards and 15 touchdowns.

“Ricky’s a quarterback,” Dauterive said of his star wideout. “He’s a tremendous athlete with great speed and hands. He just has an unbelievable burst after he catches the ball.

If Dixon was the first option for the Wildcats, the second option was his big tight end Jamal Breaux. The 6-7, 250-pound Breaux had only 25 catches for 403 yards but had nine touchdowns.

“Jamal is a big guy and a big target on the goaline. He caught a lot of short touchdown passes for us this season. He probably led the state in terms of tight ends in touchdowns. When we got down to the goaline we would just flank him out wide and just throw fade passes against 5-7 defensive backs.”

One of the bigger offensive lineman in the district, Raymond was one of the biggest keys in the ESJ offensive success.

“It’s been like that the last couple of years. Kerry has been a solid contributor for us. Last year we had three first-team offensive linemen. He really had a great year.”