By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

Pardon the St. James Wildcats if they entered Friday night’s clash with Teurlings Catholic with a bit of a chip on their shoulders.

Not only were the Wildcats coming off of a 35-7 loss at Destrehan in their season opener, but across the field was a team that handed the Wildcats one of their more bitter losses a season ago – Teurlings Catholic, which defeated then-visitor St. James in overtime in what would be the Wildcats’ second, and final, loss of the regular season.

On Friday night, host St. James secured a measure of revenge, toppling the Rebels 48-21.

Marcus Dumas completed 6-of-13 passes for 156 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception for St. James. He also added a 30-yard touchdown run. Shane Grows led the team in rushing with 94 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.

St. James Coach Rick Gaille said that his team had a lot of incentive entering the game.

“The situation had a bit of a double-edge to it,” Gaille said. “Not only did we bounce back from the loss last week, but also from losing to Teurlings Catholic in overtime a year ago.

“Our players would probably unanimously state that they felt like they owed (Teurlings) our best game and effort.”

Each team brought a much different looking team to the field, as a 10-win Rebels (1-1) team from a year ago lost a great number of seniors, similar to what St. James (1-1) has gone through in the offseason.

But the big difference, Gaille said, was his team’s efficiency.

“Especially in the kicking game, we were a lot cleaner this time,” he said. “Last year, we had a fumbled snap on a punt, gave them a touchdown. We also gave up a halfback pass, and had almost 200 yards in penalties.

“We really helped ourselves by eliminating those errors.”

Dumas put St. James ahead by scoring the only touchdown of the first quarter, a 30-yard run that made it 7-0.

He doubled that lead when he combined with fellow senior Mason King, finding the tight end for a 31-yard scoring strike.

Grows made it 21-0 on a 13-yard second quarter run. After a Teurlings score, Jaleel Steib pushed the lead to 35-7 before halftime with a pair of touchdown runs, from 4 and 8-yards away.

From there, St. James never looked back.

Jaleel Steib ran 12 times for 69 yards. Romell Steib added 53 yards on seven carries. Dumas carried seven times for 57 yards.

Romell Steib led the way defensively, totaling 11 tackles. Rojae Dumas, Jarrell Williams, and Jontrae Gordon each intercepted passes, and Ken Charles and Elijah Cooper recovered fumbles for the Wildcats.