Wildcats stun Rams, 36-33, in Edgard
Published 10:06 am Sunday, September 3, 2017
- St. James High School quarterback DeMarcus Williams, No. 5, looks for an open receiver in the first quarter of the Wildcats’ 2017 season opener against rival West St. John High in Edgard.
Riverside, SCC come up winners during Week 1, ESJH falls
EDGARD — St. James coach Robert Valdez returned to his old school Friday night and left nothing behind.
In his first year as coach of the Wildcats in 2016, Valdez wrested away the Railroad Classic trophy from his former trophy case at West St. John. This year he brought the trophy with him to Edgard then was able to bring it back to St. James following a 36-33 come-from-behind win over the Rams in the season opener for both teams.
After trailing for most of the game, St. James finally got the break it needed with 6:45 remaining in the game.
West St. John led 33-28 but stalled a drive at its own 46-yard line and lined up to punt. The ball sailed past punter Horace Lewis, who recovered the ball at the 23, where the Wildcats took over.
The Wildcats won the game, 36-33, despite steady play from WSJH quarterback D’andre Gaudia, No. 13.
On the first play from scrimmage, Dontaz Sterling ran for the touchdown to give St. James a 34-33 lead. The Wildcats missed the first PAT attempt, but the Rams were flagged for a personal foul. They missed the 2-point conversion attempt as well, but the Rams were called for pass interference. Finally DeMarcus Williams ran for the 2-point conversion on the third try.
After a sluggish start, West St. John had led until that point. The Rams broke the stalemate with 1:37 remaining in the first quarter after D’Andrea Goudia connected with Wantrell Williams on a 33-yard pass to the Wildcats 3. From there Horace Lewis bulled his way in for the score. The conversion failed, leaving the Rams with a 6-0 lead.
On the first drive of the second quarter, Goudia connected with Dontrell Davis for a 21-yard touchdown pass. Goudia then ran for the conversion to make it 13-0 with 9:37 remaining in the half.
St. James scored its first touchdown on the next drive when Williams found Shamar Smith for a 68-yard touchdown. The kick failed leaving the Wildcats trailing 13-6.
West St. John answered quickly after Dontrell Davis returned the kickoff to the Wildcats’ 29. Three plays later, Niko Davis scored from the 20. Lewis’ PAT kick made it 20-6 with 7:37 remaining.
The Rams added another score before the half when Jonathan Porter recovered a St. James fumble in the end zone.
St. James answered with a nice drive set up by Glen Brown’s kickoff return to the Rams’ 35. Williams found Smith again for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 2:05 remaining in the half, leaving the score 27-12.
Alec Mahler added a 32-yard field goal for the Wildcats in the third quarter and West St. John added one more score on a 1-yard run by Niko Davis.
The rest was all St. James, as the Wildcats scored 18 unanswered points.
Williams passed for 187 yards and three touchdowns for the Wildcats, all to Sterling, who has 155 yards receiving. Goudia finished with 103 yards passing for the Rams.
St. Charles 29, Chalmette 0
Lloyd Nash ran for two touchdowns and Joe Chiarella and Narquez Jones each added one to give the Comets a season-opening victory on the road at Chalmette.
Cameron Fabre added a 29-yard field goal to the Comets’ total.
St. Charles rolled up 345 yards of offense while holding the Owls to 155.
Nash passed for 63 yards.
Jones finished with 165 yards on 17 carries.
Riverside 54, Southern Lab 0
The defending Division III state champion Rebels got their 2017 campaign off to an impressive start, taking a 54-0 victory over Southern Lab Thursday night at Walker High School.
Rebels quarterback Jordan Loving completed 11 of 17 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns.
Jeremiah Bigham had two catches for 101 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown.
Loving threw a 19-yard touchdown to Jalen Banks to start the scoring with 9:50 remaining in the first quarter. Loving later scored on a 1-yard run and tossed an 11-yard pass to Banks to put the Rebels ahead 21-0 before a one-hour lightning delay interrupted the action.
After the delay, Riverside scored 23 points in the span of 4:45, including a safety, a 45-yard kickoff return for Kash Foley and a 7-yard touchdown run by Gibson.
The Kittens were the Division IV champions in 2015 and 2016 but recently had their titles stripped by the LHSAA.
The Kittens lost four fumbles and gave up a safety.
Plaquemine 35, East St. John 13
Despite two strong scoring plays, the Wildcats defense could not keep up in losing their season opener to Plaquemine
For East St. John High, Keith Matt scored on a 12-yard pass and Cameron Grant scored on a 35-yard touchdown.
