By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

EDGARD – It’s October. Typically, that means its time for Rams football.

West St. John historically gears up for a late season run through Class 1A at this time of year, and Friday night’s 55-14 win over District 8-1A foe Christian Life can be taken as a reminder of that fact.

“A credit to our kids is that they understand the importance of playing well in district, of putting ourselves in position to advance deep into the playoffs,” said West St. John coach Robert Valdez. “We’ve identified who our go-to people are, what we focus on, and what’s getting it done for us.”

Those “go-to people” will be showcased again Friday night when the Rams host another district foe in East Iberville (0-6, 0-1) in the Rams’ homecoming game.

The West St. John running game usually heats up as the weather cools down, and against Christian Life the Rams had two backs combine for over 200 yards rushing.

Eighth grader Jeremy Jackson made it two 100-yard games in two career starts, rushing for 110 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. Blandy Young added 96 yards and a score on seven carries.

“They give us different things,” said Valdez. “Blandy is a big threat on the perimeter, a real speedy type. Jeremy is more of a traditional runner who rushes well between the tackles. Having both of them going so strong, it opens it up for the pass. We stress to our offensive line how important it is for us to run it effectively.”

The passing lanes were wide open for quarterback Mark Wright, who was 6-for-7 for 156 yards and two touchdowns, one to Jarius Moll, the other to Denzel Pierre.

A senior transfer, Wright has taken the reins as the team’s starting quarterback as freshman Austin Howard has moved to receiver.

“Austin is our future,” said Valdez. “He’s still going to play there. But Mark gives us some experience, a strong pocket passer, accurate with a real strong arm. We’ll go with him while we continue to develop Austin.”

The Rams’ defense held the Crusaders to 127 total yards.

East Iberville has struggled this season, only scoring 14 total points on the year.

But Valdez points to WSJ’s 27-6 win over the Tigers last season in which his team turned the ball over seven times on a rainy, sloppy night.

“The disappointing thing about last year was that we aim to improve each week, and we took a step back in that game,” said Valdez.

“This will be probably one of the hardest weeks of practice for our kids because we want to keep them on track.”