By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

It didn’t come easy, but West St. John captured its second win of the season on Friday night as it topped Jeanerette 12-6 in overtime at West St. John.

The contest was non-district game, a break for the Rams from its 9-1A schedule during the school’s homecoming weekend.

But the Tigers proved to be no pushovers. West St. John trailed for almost three quarters and rallied to tie the game in the fourth, before Tyler Lewis’s 1-yard touchdown run in overtime generated the winning points.

The Ram (2-3, 2-0) defense was stout yet again this season, allowing no offensive points — and its team a chance to come back and win.

“This is our identity, right now,” said West St. John Coach Robert Valdez. “Our defense is going to carry us. It was lights out all night.”

While Jeanerette (1-6, 0-1) was able to gain yardage early on some cutback runs, West St. John defenders quickly adjusted, particularly in overtime — Jeanerette’s attempt to tie the game on its final possession was halted in the backfield.

“Our kids held their ground there,” Valdez said. “It proved monumental.”

The game also marked the first occasion that West St. John has rotated its quarterbacks this season. Dray Joseph, who has started each game this season but one due to injury, split time with Daylon Feist. Joseph moved to wide receiver on many of Feist’s snaps.

“We’re trying to maximize our potential as much as we can,” said Valdez. “It’s an interesting experiment — you never know when you’ll need either guy to come in and play.

“We’re still ironing out some wrinkles. There were some highlights, and also some things about it that didn’t work out.”

Jeanerette took a 6-0 lead in the second quarter after the Tigers’ Jamar Jackson recovered a fumble in the endzone. The extra point attempt was no good.

And that was it for the scoring until the fourth — West St. John’s defense wouldn’t budge, but the Tigers were just as tough.

“We were able to move it a bit on short, quick passes. And we gained some yardage on quarterback runs,” Valdez said. “But we had trouble sustaining drives.”

The Rams’ luck changed in the fourth offensively with a big play by Donald Brown. After West St. John drove into Jeanerette territory, Joseph found Brown for a 46-yard catch and run that tied the game.

“That put us right back in it. Donald got the job done with a huge play,” Valdez said.

Jeanerette intercepted the two-point passing attempt, though, and the teams went to overtime.

Lewis’s touchdown came on a power run on third down from the one. That made it 12-6 after the extra point kick attempt failed.

But West St. John’s defense held, and the Rams had their second straight win.

“Jeanerette played a real spirited game. They pushed us to the brink,” Valdez said.