By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

As St. James traveled to Homer on Friday night for its regional round game in the 2A state playoffs, the Wildcats were preparing to face a high-scoring team boasting a great deal of speed offensively, much like themselves.

Homer had not scored less than 21 points in any game this season, and topped 33 points on seven occasions.

That came to an abrupt end, courtesy of the St. James defense. The Wildcats shutout Homer on the way to a 30-0 victory, and will advance to the quarterfinal round.

“The main thing for us was to keep them running sideways and not allow the really big plays,” said St. James Coach Rick Gaille. “Some of their runs worked, but our pursuit kept their potential 50 or 60 yard gains to 10 or 12 yards.”

With Luther Ambrose and Gary Davis again limited due to injury, the Wildcats’ Kenny Zenon again carried the load on the ground, rushing for 116 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. DeMell Dumas was switched over from the defensive side to provide a backfield change of pace, and he rushed for 52 yards on ten carries.

St. James quarterback Marcus Dumas was 6-for-9 and passed for two scores, each to tight end Mason King. King finished with three receptions for 50 yards.

“We were able to mix it up some,” said Gaille. “We knew we’d have to get them by running off tackle, and Marcus was able to do dome damage in the secondary. It really kept them off balance.”

As usual during St. James’ nine game winning streak, the Wildcats got on the board on their first possession. An 18-yard Zenon touchdown capped it to put St. James up 7-0.

The Wildcats (10-2) forced a punt and followed up with another scoring drive, this time capped by a big play. Dumas found King for a 40-yard score to make it 14-0. That score remained until the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Juarelle Narcisse had an impressive showing. First, he capped of a drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge to make it 21-0. He would later kick a 28-yard field goal for St. James and gave his team a 24-0 lead at halftime.

There was no more scoring until the fourth quarter, when Dumas found King for the second time, this time on a short two-yard touchdown to make it 30-0.

St. James outgained Homer (7-5) 323-168 in total offense. The Wildcats rushed for 241 yards while holding homer to 145.

“We were able to keep them from establishing any consistency on offense,” said Gaille. “Our defense played extraordinarily well.”