By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

 

ST. GABRIEL — West St. John sealed the first of its two primary goals this season Friday, wrapping up the District 9-1A championship outright with a dominating 47-0 victory at East Iberville.

The road to that second goal begins next week, when the Rams (6-3, 5-0) begin postseason play and attempt to return to the Superdome — the Rams began the season ranked No. 1 in Class 1A and have nothing short of championship aspirations after finishing as state runner-up a year ago.

“Goal number one of two is complete,” said WSJ coach Robert Valdez. “We came out healthy and got the win. Now, the next process gets underway.”

Kylum Favorite rushed for 76 yards and two touchdowns on six carries. Jeremy Jackson rushed four times for 58 yards and a touchdown. Austin Howard completed 9-of-11 pass attempts for 105 yards and two touchdowns, both going to Timothy Nelson.

The Rams outgained East Iberville (3-6, 1-4) 296-138.

West St. John led 13-0 after the first quarter, where Jackson and Favorite each touched paydirt on runs of 17 and four yards respectively.

Nelson hauled in a 2-yard touchdown from Howard in the second quarter, then caught another ball from him for a two-point conversion to make it 21-0.

Favorite scored from 15 yards away to make it 27-0, then Justin Bethancourt struck on special teams to extend the lead to 35-0 — Morell Bartholomew scored a two-point conversion.

Nelson and Lamore Boudoin each scored touchdowns to round out the Rams’ scoring.

The Rams led 41-0 at halftime.

“The biggest thing for us is that we played hard throughout. The defense pitched a shutout and offensively, we executed how we need to.”

The Rams entered the game ranked fifth in Class 1A power points and is all but assured of hosting its first playoff game next week.

“Hopefully next week, there will be a lot of energy and excitement at West St. John,” said Valdez.

“We don’t back down from our expectations. We’re expected to play for a state championship. That’s our goal. The kids understand what it takes to get there.”