By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

East St. John running back Alex Singleton began the season as a linebacker as the Wildcats faced West St. John in their season opening jamboree.

Meanwhile, the first notable play that West St. John defensive end Blake Comminie made in 2007 was a 1-yard touchdown reception from the running back position in that same game.

But as it’s often said, it isn’t how, or where, you start, it’s where you finish. And for each of these versatile athletes, it would be their contributions on the opposite side of the football that would garner them great recognition.

Singleton is the Offensive Most Valuable Player and Comminie the Defensive Most Valuable Player on the L’Observateur’s 2007 All-St. John Parish football team.

After the departure of two key seniors, quarterback Johnnie Theil and running back Johnny Owen, East St. John Coach Larry Dauterive was left with the unenviable task of trying to replace two standout offensive performers.

Enter Singleton, who didn’t start his team’s jamboree game, but sure finished it. A strong second half performance in the contest showed Dauterive enough to name Singleton his starter at tailback going forward.

What did Singleton do to pay Dauterive back? All he did was rush for 1507 yards and 22 touchdowns, averaging a stellar 6.9 yards a carry. Singleton even chipped with his arm – he completed two passes for 81 yards with two touchdowns.

“I just did what I could to help the team out in any way,” said Singleton, a junior. “If the team needed me to play on both sides of the ball, I was up for it.”

“He wasn’t fulltime on offense until after the Bastrop game (in the season’s fourth week),” said Dauterive. “We put the whole offense on his back, and he responded with those numbers.”

East St. John had uncharacteristic struggles in passing the ball this season, which made Singleton’s accomplishments even more impressive in light of the rugged slate of opponents the Wildcats faced. East St. John started the season 1-3 and would face three eventual state champions in Bastrop, Destrehan and John Curtis, to go with matchups against Acadiana (06’ champion and 07’ 5A state runner up) and Hahnville.

All had one thing in common: each put a big target on Singleton’s back.

Teams stacked the line against him all year – all that seemed to mean was that his runs would be longer once he’d break through the line. At 6’1, 230 pounds, while Singleton could run away from a defender, he could often just run through him.

“I was thinking about a touchdown every time I got the ball,” Singleton said. “I would just tell myself to keep my legs moving, keep going and don’t let one guy take you down.”

What Singleton brought to the offensive side of the ball, Comminie matched on the defensive side. After West St. John started its season 0-5, Comminie, a senior, led a defense that keyed a nine-game winning streak, allowing 20 points or less in all nine games. In seven of those contests, the Rams held the opposition to 14 or less. It resulted in the Rams going all the way to the Superdome for the Class 1A title game, where they fell to South Plaquemines.

“From the St. Charles game on, we held everyone under 21 (during the winning streak),” Comminie said. “That was our goal on defense. We didn’t want anyone to score on us.”

He recorded 63 tackles and recovered five fumbles. Comminie also recorded seven sacks.

Where Comminie was extremely unique though was his propensity to score on defense. Despite playing on the defensive line, he scored seven times on defense and special teams, scoring on fumble returns and blocked punts.

His shining individual moment came in the Rams 56-6 win on Oct. 19 at home against North Iberville, where he scored four times – three on fumble returns, and once on a blocked and recovered punt.

“I was just in the right place at the right time,” Comminie said. “I wanted to come through for my team.”

Dupont praised Comminie’s leadership, as well as his willingness to tough out injuries.

“He was our leader all year, on and off the field,” Dupont said. “He wasn’t 100%, but he played through it, especially early on. He’s got a great work ethic, speed and strength. He can definitely play at the next level.”

And he’ll always remember the Rams run in 2007.

“It was a wonderful feeling to get to the state finals,” Comminie said. “It was a blessing from God.”