By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — When Riverside hosts Carver Friday night for a District 9-2A showdown, it will see a team trending upward that boasts a dynamic spread offensive attack.

In other words, Rebel football may resemble something of a rerun this week.

The Rebels (5-2, 2-1) survived last week’s non-district clash with Miller McCoy, emerging with a 48-47 win in which the Lions fell behind by three touchdowns on two different occasions before the Rebel defense established order with a fourth down stop late.

McCoy quarterback Norbert Ralph IV is one of the state’s leading passers and may well have cemented himself at the top of the list with a 572-yard, five-touchdown performance against the Rebels.

Carver (4-3, 1-2), likewise, enters this week’s game with an offense that scored 64 points last week (a 64-6 win over Clark) and averages 36.1 points this season.

“The good thing for us is that playing Miller (McCoy) last week prepares you for Carver,” said Riverside coach Mickey Roussel. “They’ve got some nice looking athletes. They’re gonna spread your defense out, and they can go 80 on any given play.”

Quarterback Joey Louis captains an offense that boasts a slew of big play receivers with great size and speed. Raheem Falkins and Dedrick Stalbert are 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-3 respectively and are among the reasons Carver has improved from last season’s 0-10 mark to a respectable 4-3 through seven games.

Roussel’s offense hasn’t been too bad, either, in recent weeks. Aside from its meeting with top-ranked John Curtis on Sept. 30, Riverside has scored 41, 56, and 48 points in wins over South Plaquemines, Cohen and McCoy.

Quarterback Tate Scioneaux tossed four touchdown passes against McCoy, and running back Jonquial Sanders rushed for 167 yards and scored three touchdowns.

Turnovers, however, were an issue, much as they were against Curtis. Riverside led 27-7 in the first half, only to see that lead evaporate after turning it over on three consecutive possessions, once on a kickoff return, once on an interception and once on a fumble in the McCoy redzone. That enabled Ralph and the Lion offense to charge back and tie the game, though Riverside would lead 34-27 at half.

“Those turnovers were the difference in leading by three or four touchdowns as opposed to one,” said Roussel.

Riverside pushed ahead 48-27 in the third quarter, but McCoy pushed back again, and a touchdown and then a two-point conversion with less than eight minutes left put the Lions within a point. McCoy had the ball and a chance to go ahead midway through the fourth, but a Rebel stop turned the ball back over to its offense with four minutes left. Riverside killed the clock from there.