By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

 

EDGARD — West St. John looked like a driven team as it racked up 40 first half points in its 53-13 Class 1A bi-district playoff victory over Opelousas Catholic.

Rams’ quarterback Austin Howard summed up why.

“Every game I come out here, I think about just how much I don’t want that feeling we had at the end of last year.”

Howard was referring to his team’s loss in the state championship game to Ouachita Christian. After coming so close only to fall just short, the junior quarterback and his team have used it as fuel; the Rams (7-3) are averaging 52.8 points per game over their last six, all victories.

“This game is one of five for us, the five we need to win,” said Howard. “So we’re gonna put up big points every week to make sure that happens.”

Howard was 10-of-13 for 168 yards and two touchdowns through the air, while rushing for another score.

Teammate Jeremy Jackson dominated on the ground, rushing nine times for 163 yards and three touchdowns, including one weaving, juking 26-yard third quarter score that looked like something out of a Madden or Tecmo Bowl video game.

Kylum Favorite bullied his way for 63 yards and a score on nine carries, while Keith Miller led the Rams in receiving with 69 yards and a touchdown on four catches.

Jackson pushed the Rams ahead early on touchdown runs of 36 and 43 yards, giving the Rams a 14-0 lead with 4:47 left in the first quarter.

A sack of Vikings’ quarterback Evan Wagley by Brandon Matthews put Opelousas away on its next drive. The Rams followed up by converting a fourth down on a five-yard Jackson run, eventually leading to a 48-yard touchdown pass from Howard to Timothy Nelson with 9:25 to go in the first half, making it 20-0.

“They were looking to take away Kylum and Jeremy and they were playing man with no safety help,” said West St. John coach Robert Valdez. “We recognized that, and Austin is good enough to take advantage of those situations and do some damage.”

After stopping Opelousas again, the Vikings attempted a fake punt on fourth and four that went nowhere. WSJ had to march just 34 yards on its next drive, culminating with a Favorite 2-yard plunge to make it 26-0. Howard ran in a two-point conversion to make it 28-0.

The Rams drove 58 yards on their next drive after forcing a three-and-out; Howard connected with Miller and Laffarin Stipe on gains of 21 and 20 yards respectively before calling his own number for a 4-yard scoring run, making it 34-0 with 2:09 left in the half.

Raymond Draten intercepted Wagler with a minute left to go before the half, and 10 seconds later Howard had his second touchdown pass of the evening, a 33-yard deep ball down the sideline to Miller to push the lead to 40-0.

While Favorite and Jackson did the heavy lifting receiving-wise early this season, Howard has been connecting with his wide receivers in much higher volume recently.

“I think they were a bit nervous early this season, their first time under the lights,” said Howard, alluding to the fact that the Rams had three senior wide receivers start a year ago. “But now they’re getting into it. I knew the chemistry was going to be there, but it just takes time.”

Added Valdez, “The chemistry Austin is building with those guys is becoming something special.”

The Rams took only 13 seconds to score to begin the second half when Javen Toney recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff and returned it for a score.

Jackson capped the scoring for the Rams on their first offensive drive of the third quarter on his impressive 26 yard run.

West St. John scored on its first seven drives and did not punt at all.

“I like the way we’re executing,” said Valdez.

Adam LeBlanc and Brett Mills scored touchdowns for Opelousas Catholic, each in the fourth quarter.

The victory sets up a rematch between the District 9-1A champion Rams and district runner-up White Castle (9-2), which defeated Hannan in the first round, 24-7.

The Rams defeated White Castle 41-22 in Edgard on Oct. 19. The regional round game will also be at West St. John.