By: TERRELL ROBINSON JR.

East St. John will undoubtedly have their share of treats this Halloween. However, they may have used up all of their tricks in a 48-31 victory against East Ascension on Friday in a game that was much closer than the final score would indicate.

Trailing by 3 points with ten minutes remaining, the Wildcats engineered a 12 play, 55 yard drive, culminating in a 4th-and-1 fake field goal TD pass from Darion Monroe to running back Andrew Taylor which would be the difference in the game. This came in response to East Ascension’s own fake field goal earlier in the quarter, which saw third string quarterback Adam Miller connect with Randell Williams for a 33 yard touchdown. Moments later, the Spartans defense recovered a fumble in ESJ territory, setting up a 6 yard scoring run by Jamarcus Jarvis, giving the visitors their brief lead.

Wide receiver D’Haquille Williams managed to mix in a few tricks of his own, tossing an 85 yard touchdown pass to fellow receiver Rashad Green on the first play from scrimmage. Williams amassed 236 yards of total offense and scored 3 touchdowns, the last of which came after he intercepted Deandrus Ennis’ pass and returned it 60 yards to end the Spartan threat. East St. John coach Larry Dauterive had nothing but praise for the play of his wideout:

“He’s the best receiver in America,” Dauterive said. “I’m telling you. I don’t care where anybody is. He’s the best. He can make plays with the game on the line. He’s an incredible athlete. I’ve never had a better athlete in my 45 years of coaching.”

The competitive second half was something of a departure from the first two quarters, which the Wildcats controlled. Following Williams’ opening touchdown pass, East St. John’s defense forced a fumble which Floyd Raven returned for a 35 yard score. After Sione Palelei ran 3 yards for East Ascensions first points of the night, the Wildcat offense embarked on a 12 play drive, eating up 5 minutes of the clock before Monroe completed an 18 yard pass to Williams in the Spartan’s endzone. Monroe would bring the halftime score to 28-14, scoring on a 5 yard run with 1 minute remaining in the second quarter.