By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — You could say that East St. John safety Amani Martin likes to get his season off to a good start.

Last season, it was Martin’s pick six that preserved a 6-6 tie with St. Charles Catholic in the season opening jamboree. On Friday night, Martin struck again —repeatedly — forcing a fumble and intercepting a pass, each leading to eventual touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 21-12 jamboree victory over host West St. John.

Martin’s first half forced fumble led to a scoop and score of 76 yards by Dontrell Allen and a his second-half interception set up Gerald Munoz’s eventual 2-yard touchdown run, which all but iced the victory for the Wildcats.

“I’m always gonna do all I can do to make it easy for my offense to score,” said Martin. “I wanted to change the game’s momentum and get our side hyped.”

Said East St. John coach Phillip Banko, “He’s the MVP of tonight’s game. He’s the general for us on that field.”

Martin’s playmaking was needed, Friday. While the Class 1A Rams were outsized and outmanned against the 5A Wildcats, West St. John wasn’t willing to go quietly into the night as it hosted its first ever jamboree.

The Rams set the tone early, declaring their intent to not only compete, but win, by executing and recovering a surprise onside kick to begin the game.

East St. John held to force a Rams punt, but on the Wildcats’ second possession of the game, defensive back Trey Nathan intercepted a Munoz pass in Rams territory and returned it all the way to the ESJ 23.

But Martin made his presence felt a play later, sniffing out a Jeremy Jackson run and hitting him behind the line of scrimmage, jostling the ball loose for Allen to pick it up and score. That made it 6-0, as the extra point try was no good.

The Rams went three and out on their next possession, and a bad snap in punt formation forced Austin Howard to kick the ball out the back of the endzone for a safety with 9:42 left in the first half, making it 8-0.

ESJ started its next drive at the Rams’ 47 after a safety punt, and on its first play Nigel Anderson ripped off a 47-yard touchdown run off right tackle to make it 14-0.

The Rams got some life back with 4:56 left in the first half, when Howard play-faked and showed as if he’d run himself; he instead stopped and uncorked a pass downfield, dialing up a wide-open Morrell Bartholomew for a 53-yard score. The two-point attempt failed.

Valdez attempted to capitalize quickly, calling for another onside kick. The Rams again recovered, but it was negated due to illegal touching.

ESJ had chances to put points on the board and extend the lead, but the Rams defense forced three separate Wildcat drives into stalling, with ESJ missing a field goal attempt each time.

But late in the jamboree, Martin delivered his second game-changing play of the night, breaking on a Howard pass and returning an interception for an apparent score; the Wildcats were flagged for unnecessary roughness on the return, but it set ESJ up on the Rams’ 23. Munoz completed a pass to Shedrick Colbert, rushed for seven yards to the 2 and then took it in himself to make it 21-6 with 2:18 remaining.

WSJ had one last answer, after Jeremy Jackson broke loose on a 22-yard run. Howard went on to dial up Jackson for a 31-yard score to make it 21-6. The Rams tried for two again and failed, a pass to Jackson falling incomplete. ESJ recovered WSJ’s third and final onside kick of the night to salt away the win.

Despite the loss, Valdez was pleased with a valiant effort from his Rams’ squad against a much bigger foe.

“I’m excited at the way our kids competed. There were a couple of opportunities out there that, if we clicked on them, things may play out differently.”

He was also happy with how the event went as a whole, as West St. John hosted a jamboree for the first time ever.

“We wanted to make a statement that we can host these types of events,” said Valdez. “We have the stadium, the infrastructure and the support … I’m so proud of our community, our administration, of everyone who worked so hard to make it possible.”