By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

The West St. John Rams (8-5) aren’t quite ready to let Rams Coach Laury Dupont slip into retirement just let – there’s still work to be done.

Dupont, who will retire effective at the end of this season, has seen his team resurrect its season after an 0-5 start to win eight straight games, including Friday night’s 16-14 comeback win over Kentwood.

A ninth straight would mean the Superdome for Dupont and his Rams for the first time since the team’s 46-2 Class 2A state championship victory over St. Helena.

But awaiting the Rams on Friday night will be No. 8 seeded Ouachita Christian (11-2), which upset No. 1 and district rival Cedar Creek 49-13 in the quarterfinals to advance. Ouachita Christian will host this semifinal matchup.

Dupont says the offensive look awaiting them is a familiar one.

“They are very, very similar offensively to Hamilton Christian,” said Dupont, who coached the Rams to a 30-14 regional round victory this year over Hamilton Christian. “They want to spread you out in the shotgun, use a lot of motion. It’s very wide open.”

West St. John’s running game has become more and more imposing as the season has gone on. Romell Howard has added a major power component to the speed of tailbacks Tyler Lewis and Kenneth Dabney, and the results were on display in the second half of the win over Kentwood on Friday – the Kangaroos had no answer whatsoever for Howard and his powerful running.

Ouachita Christian has been almost as hot as the Rams in recent weeks, with only one loss in its last eight games – to Cedar Creek, 21-16, in the regular season. Every victory has been by two scores or more.

Ouachita Christian quarterback Jacob Davis will be leaned on to score points against a West St. john defense that simply does not allow many. The Rams have not allowed 20 points in any of its last eight games, and no more than 14 in seven of them. Ouachita Christian, meanwhile, has topped 30 points in five of its last six games.

It’s a case of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object. The winner moves on to New Orleans.