LAPLACE — When the West St. John Rams (3-5) host cross-parish rivals the St. Charles Catholic Comets (6-2) on Friday, the game will be about much more than just the rebirth of a rivalry.

It will likely determine if West St. John makes the playoffs.

The Comets and the Rams were a perennial matchup for a number of years and built up quite a fervor amongst their fans in St. John the Baptist Parish. The two teams have traditionally been at the top of their classes, but this year the Rams jumped up to 2A and joined a tough District including St. Charles Catholic and Riverside Academy.

Both teams suffered lopsided defeats at the hands of Riverside, the Comets fell to the Rebels 35-3 last week, while the Rams lost to the Rebels 44-6.

Now both teams are locked in a race for a consolation prize, and one will come away shut out in intra-parish games this year.

After starting the season with back-to-back wins, the Rams suffered five straight losses before breaking the streak last week in a 42-28 win over Sophie B. Wright.

Despite the hard luck the Rams have faced, St. Charles Catholic head coach Frank Monica said West St. John’s record is deceptive.

“What people don’t realize is who they’ve played,” Monica said. “They’ve played Southern Lab and the Kentwoods and some of the better teams. So their schedule has been pretty tough also. You watch them, and they are still going to contend in 2A in the public school side. So we need to understand that.”

The teams that have defeated the Rams have a combined record of 29-9.

Meanwhile the Comets have been an offensive monster, racking up 268 points on the year and dropping only two games, one in a close loss in week five to 5A East Accession. Monica said the Comets have a lot to overcome if they hope to be successful at the end of the year.

“If we don’t rebound and play better, we won’t have any success,” Monica said.

That will not be an easy prospect against the Rams, according to Monica.

“They are just a dangerous football team,” Monica said. “They are very athletic on both sides of the football, very dangerous. They have big playmakers on both sides of the football and they have a good scheme. They understand what they are doing.”

In addition, St. Charles Catholic is traveling to Edgard for the matchup. Monica said the environment at a West St. John football game, especially when the Comets are playing there, is exciting because of the energized fanbases.

On the other side of the field, the Rams are fighting for their season.

West St. John interim head coach Brandon Walters is fighting to maintain a playoffs streak that is at least as old, he said, as the seven-year tenure of his predecessor Robert Valdez.

However, Walters said his players do not have their minds on the postseason.

“I haven’t really been looking at it too much,” Walters said. “I’ve just been focusing on it one week at a time. I figured we take care of our business these last two games and let the chips fall where they may. Hopefully, we have a shot to get into the playoffs and make some noise beyond there.”

The Rams’ win last week marked their first in six games.

“It feels good coming off of that,” Walters said. “The guys are focused. We are trying to get on the right path to line up another one.”

Defeating St. Charles Catholic would likely earn the Rams their best win of the year should they pull it off.

“They are a well-disciplined, well-coached team,” Walters said. “They are always in the place they want to be and where they are supposed to be. We just have to make sure we are sound in what we are doing.”

To combat the Comets, West St. John coaches have been studying their opponent’s tendencies.

“We saw some things that we liked, saw some things that we want to try and exploit,” Walters said. “We are going to attack them and we are going to try and defend. We are going to come after them, bring some physicality to the game, try to impose our will on them and not let the same thing happen to us.”