By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — You can’t judge a book by its cover.

Those words rang true Friday night. What looked like it could become a crazy shootout based on the first play from scrimmage turned into a defensive slugfest between West St. John and Riverside, a jamboree game in which the Rams secured a 13-0 victory.

West St. John scored on its very first play on a flea flicker, a reverse turning into a throwback to quarterback Austin Howard who found a wide-open Jeremy Jackson for a 63-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 with just 21 seconds gone in the game.

After being shutout in the jamboree last season by the Rebels, Valdez wanted to get on the scoreboard quickly.

“That first play is important. We wanted to get the blood flowing early,” said Valdez. “Thank God we were able to score, because we struggled a bit after that.”

Indeed, from there, both teams struggled to generate offensive production as the defenses took over.  

West St. John had its chances to break the game open; the Rams failed to convert on three of four possessions that WSJ generated inside the Rebels’ 10-yard line.  

Riverside’s first possession ended with a fumbled snap and turnover on downs; WSJ took over deep in Rebel territory.

But on a second-and-one from the Rebel 2, West St. John lost a fumble on the quarterback-center exchange and Riverside’s Brandon Hymel recovered and returned the ball to the Rams’ 38. WSJ forced a turnover on downs on four plays.

Riverside’s defense again came up with a big stop when WSJ went for a fourth-and-one on its 45 as James Sledge and Matt Dupepe stopped Kylum Favorite.

“They showed me some things,” said Riverside coach Bill Stubbs, who had challenged his defense to step up in the weeks leading in. “I’m more comfortable with what we have. They wanted to answer.”

The Rams had another chance to break things open when RA’s Jonquial Sanders mishandled a punt, allowing the Rams to recover on the Rebel 29. Howard and Favorite converted a fourth-and-five with a 14-yard completion to the 10. A holding penalty pushed WSJ back, though, and the drive stalled, Howard’s final throw falling incomplete out of the endzone.

West St. John recovered another Rebel fumble at the RA 49 just before the half and again, marched inside the 10, the big play this time a 28-yard completion from Howard to Jackson. But another botched snap on a second-and-four pushed WSJ back; on a fourth-and-14, Dustin Madere intercepted Howard in the endzone.

The score remained 7-0 until the Rams took over late in the second half at their own 21. Jackson broke back-to-back big runs for 23 and 21 yards. Favorite rushed twice for eight yards, then hauled in a catch for 14 yards on a fourth-and-four. Jackson then caught an 11 yard pass to the RA 5; a play later, he ran the ball for his second touchdown.

Riverside never reached the Rams’ redzone in the game.

“We dominated defensively,” said Rams’ linebacker Dontre Turner. “That’s our expectation, to allow no points.

For Bill Stubbs, the Rebels’ new head coach known for winning three state titles at Salmen, it was the first game on the sideline in over 10 years.

“There’s no feeling like that, when you’re on that sideline. It’s amazing.”

For West St. John, it signified a return to form for Jackson, a sophomore running back who broke out as an eighth grader but suffered an injury riddled freshman season. He scored two times and broke a handful of big gains.

Throughout the night, Valdez and the Rams used Jackson and Favorite, an All-State rusher in 2011, on the field together: one in the backfield, the other at receiver.

At the end of the game, the Rebels had no answer for the two fresh backs.

“That’s the West St. John blueprint,” said Valdez. “We have to be able to run the football in the third and fourth quarter. We’ve got two talented runners, and we need to open the holes for them on the offensive line.”

As for Stubbs, he said he was disappointed in the Rebels’ offensive execution, but gave credit to his defense for stepping up, a unit he’d challenged in the weeks leading into the game.

“In a lot of ways, they did (step up),” Stubbs said. “They showed me some things tonight that made me feel more comfortable. It’s something we can build on.”

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