By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

East St. John coach Phillip Banko minced no words about his team’s upcoming battle at home with District 7-5A foe Terrebonne.

For the Wildcats, this is a must-win game.

East St. John fell to 4-4 (3-2 in District 7-5A) after suffering a second-straight loss last week, and a trip to 8-0 Destrehan looms in the season finale. A hiccup against Terrebonne could prove costly to ESJ’s aspirations this season: while ESJ is almost certainly a playoff qualifier regardless of its final two results, entering into the 5A fray on a four-game losing streak is not what Banko has in mind as an ideal situation.

“We’re coming off of two losses, so we want to right it,” Banko said. “Our kids will be ready. If we plan on doing any damage in the playoffs at all, we need to take care of Terrebonne.”

Last week’s loss to Thibodaux was an emotional one for some Wildcats, Banko said, because his players knew what was at stake.

“If we win there, we set up a chance to play for a co-district championship against Destrehan,” Banko said. “We know it was there for us. We shot ourselves in the foot against a very good Thibodaux team with turnovers.”

Terrebonne fell to 2-6 last week, and 0-5 in district play, via a 42-28 loss to Central Lafourche.

By the numbers, if the Tigers have a shot to push the Wildcats, it would be in a shootout. Terrebonne’s offense has been up and down this season, posting three games of 35 points or more, and three others with 17 points or less. Defensively, though, Terrebonne has been exploitable: THS has allowed 40 points or more in four of its past five games.

Quarterback Justin Theriot paces the Tiger attack. He completed 5 of 7 passes for 70 yards, a touchdown and an interception last week, while rushing for 151 yards and a touchdown.

ESJ quarterback Xavier Lewis has rushed for 690 yards and eight touchdowns this season while passing for 729 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions. The LSU commitment is potentially on the verge of going over 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards passing, a milestone that hasn’t been reached since Ryan Perrilloux did it in 2004.

“He’s a guy you never want to take off the field, if you can help it,” Banko said. “I’ve been blessed to be able to coach him. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime type of athlete. Man, let me tell you.”

Lewis is one of a number of Wildcats playing plenty of two-way snaps this season. He plays defensive back situationally, in addition to his quarterback duties, and cornerback is where he’s ticketed to play at LSU.

As much as Banko enjoys talking about Lewis’ offensive playmaking ability, he lights up that much more when Lewis’ defensive aptitude comes up.

“He’s going to go up there and have a chance to play early, I believe,” Banko said. “He’s an unreal defensive back. I hope he gets (the 1K milestone), I really do. It puts him in very select company. He deserves it.”