By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

HARVEY — When each was alerted to the fact that their offense had scored on six of its first eight possessions of Friday night’s 43—15 win at John Ehret, the faces of East St. John coach Phillip Banko and quarterback Darion Monroe each wore a mirrored expression of brief surprise, as if to say, “Wow, really?”

Actually, not really. The stat was slightly off; the Wildcats scored on seven of their first nine possessions.

It was a brutally efficient night in all phases at the very least for ESJ (4-2), which captured a dominating victory in its district opener on the road.

“We’re in a new district, and we wanted to come out and show that we’re a team to be reckoned with,” said Monroe. “We had a week of really good practice and it showed tonight.”

Monroe accounted for six total touchdowns, three rushing and three through the air. He spread the ball around to a bevy of receivers and backs, Deszmann Broussard having the biggest night, hauling in two touchdowns.

“It’s a compliment to Coach (Dennis) Lorio and our offensive staff, and it’s a compliment to D-Bo (Monroe). We’re teaching him to read coverages and take what is given. We have routes designed to attack specific defenses and he’s finding his second read, his third checkoff. That’s the mark of a college football player.

“They gave us the underneath stuff tonight, and our guys took advantage. It’s good to know you have some weapons in the cupboard.”

Ehret (0-5) scored on a long run in the first quarter and on its final drive of consequence, once things were decided; the Wildcats, otherwise, gave up just one first down in the first three quarters of play, its players making a home in the Ehret backfield.

And on special teams, ESJ consistently came out ahead in terms of the “hidden yardage” Banko consistently speaks of. And kicker Tramain McQuarters converted a 33-yard field goal in the first half.

ESJ immediately jumped out in front, taking the ball down the field on the game’s opening drive and scoring on Monroe’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Deszmann Broussard; the conversion run failed, but ESJ led 6-0.

Ehret opened up with a trick play on a pass out to Mike Alexander, who lined up at wide receiver and caught the ball behind the line. He threw a pass incomplete down the field. The Patriots’ Paul Belton took a handoff for an 18-yard run — creating Ehret’s lone first down of the half —before Ehret had to punt back to the Wildcats.

On the second drive, Monroe hit Marcus Robinson twice and Jeffrey Wright to get deep into Ehret territory; he’d cap a nine-play, 66 yard drive with his own two-yard run on a sweep to the outside, making it 13-0.

After an Ehret three-and-out, ESJ took over on its own 47 and scored in four plays, highlighted by a Monroe deep pass to Broussard that went for 42 yards before the receiver was knocked out at the 1. Monroe scored on a sneak to make it 19-0. The extra point attempt was blocked.

Ehret coach Billy North again reached into his bag of tricks but to no avail, when ESJ sniffed out a reverse and Nathan Anderson made a tackle for loss. But Belton came up big when he got loose on a run off tackle and raced down the sideline for a 66-yard touchdown run. ESJ was penalized on the extra point attempt, moving the ball inside the two, and Ehret took advantage on Alexander’s run up the middle to make it 19-8.

“We missed an assignment, they popped one, and that’s a credit to John Ehret,” said Banko. “In the second half, we made some adjustments defensively and that made a difference.”

Ehret’s defense stepped up on the ensuing ESJ possession, recording its first stop of the night after the Wildcats drove to the Patriots’ 23; a dropped pass and an incompletion on a pass breakup left the Wildcats empty-handed.

“We missed one or two (completions) there, but nobody hung their heads,” said Monroe. “All of our receivers played well.”

But that was the last true sign of life from Ehret. ESJ held its offense to another three-and-out. McQuarters converted a field goal to cap ESJ’s next drive on a short field (it began at the Ehret 41). That made it 22-8 at halftime. After forcing an Ehret punt on the first drive of the second half, ESJ took over on the Patriots’ 30 after a long punt return by Broussard.

It took six plays for Monroe to convert a 1-yard sneak, making it 29-8.

With 2:13 left in the third, Monroe found Kadeem Vance out of the backfield for a 27-yard score to make it 36-8.

“Kadeem Vance, he showed up nice,” said Monroe. “He got a chance to play with Jalen Kenner hurt. (Kenner) will be back, but Kadeem, the way he ran, might get to play a little more. And our offensive line played a great game.”

Then, with 11:17 left in the fourth, he dialed up Broussard for the second time to make it 43-8 after a 26-yard connection.

Ehret scored late on a touchdown pass from Alexander to Tre’ Martin from 7-yards out.

But this game was already settled.

“It was another complete effort in all three phases, for all four quarters,” Banko said. “Our philosophy is that if we’ve got 11 guys who do their job for 60 minutes … if on each play you’ve got more of your 11 executing than their 11, it adds up.”

“It’s exciting to get that first district win. Now we turn our attention to Hahnville.”