By GEORGE MAHL

St. Charles Catholic versus St. James

A critical district 3A game this week matches St. James High School against St. Charles Catholic High School in Vacherie.

The SCC Comets dropped a close game last week against E.D. White High School and cannot afford to start off district play 0-2. The SJ Wildcats have reeled off five consecutive wins after losing in week two against East St. John High School. If the Comets (4-1) are going to be successful, they need to stop a solid Wildcats running game.

Last week, St. James (5-1) racked up four rushing touchdowns in a 27-8 rout of Donaldsonville High School.

“Anytime you can start district play with a victory it’s always nice,” said St. James head coach Rick Gaille.

The Wildcats will face a tough Comets defense that only yielded 13 points to the EDW Cardinals.

“I don’t think their (SCC) defense gets enough credit for the job they do,” said Gaille.

Even though the Wildcats earned the win against DHS, Gaille said his team needs to improve because at times the players did not play as a team.

SCC head coach Frank Monica said his team played hard, but did not play all four quarters as well as they could have.

“They (EDW) had their ‘A’ game on, while we didn’t play with that much emotion at times,” Monica said.

A couple of key conversions on third and fourth down changed the momentum in favor of the Cardinals. Monica, however, is putting that game behind him and looking forward to playing a well-balanced St. James team.

“There’s no question that St. James is the best 3A team in the state right now. They beat a good West St. John team and almost beat East St. John. Rick (Gaille) has done a phenomenal job,” Monica said.

SCC will look to stop a quick-strike Wildcats offense that possesses a lot of speed.

Monica said he is hoping for two things to come out of the game – no injuries and for his players compete hard for four quarters.

East St. John versus Thibodaux

The East St. John High School Wildcats are in a good position to finish in second place in district 5A. It could likely come down to a critical Oct. 25 game at home against Destrehan.

This week ESJ will tangle with Thibodaux.

“We know that we have Destrehan after this one, but we’re not looking past anyone,” ESJ head coach Larry Dauterive said. “They (Thibodaux) have got a very good running back that can cause problems for opponents.”

Thus far in the season the THS Tigers have been inconsistent. One week they win, the next week they lose.

At 5-1, probably the only weakness ESJ has is a lack of consistency on offense.

“It’s hard to play better if you don’t have consistency,” Dauterive said.

The ESJ offensive attack has been led by quarterback Ryan Perrilloux and running back Derron Landry.

Lutcher versus E.D. White

The Lutcher High School Bulldogs are having a better season than most area coaches and media members expected. The Bulldogs have came out of a tough pre-district schedule with a 4-2 record.

“I’m so happy with were we are at right now. I think it just goes to show how hard the kids practice and how good their work ethic is,” said LHS head coach Tim Detillier

The “Underdogs,” as they are referred to by Detillier, are coming off a 21-15 victory last week over Chalmette High School. The Bulldogs were able to shut the Owls out in the first half 15-0.

“I turn around and it’s 15-15 in the second half. That just shows you how difficult each game has been,” said Detillier.

He said the victory was a big win not only because it gives the team momentum before district play, but also because Chalmette is a vastly improved team from last year.

This week the Bulldogs travel to play E.D White High School in Thibodaux.

“We have got to play E.D White and St. James back to back. I don’t think anyone else in the district has to play those two good teams in a row,” Detillier said.

If LHS is going to be successful, the players cannot make any “big game mistakes,” Detillier said.

No matter what the sport is, EDW versus LHS is generally a close game.

“I like to describe it as a nice, healthy rivalry between the two schools,” Detillier said.

Riverside versus St. Martin’s

Riverside Academy broke a three-game slide with a convincing 41-16 road defeat last week of Buras High School.

“I think we struggled in the early games for a few reasons. Although I think the biggest one was because of the competition,” said RA head coach Mickey Roussel.

He pointed out the first five teams the Rebels played have a combined record of 22-3. This week the Rebels play St. Martin’s in Metairie.

“(St. Martin’s head coach) has done a real good job with his team. There better this year than they were last year,” Roussel said.

With just four games left in the season, the Rebels are in the stretch run of the schedule. Riverside, 2-4, has already played three district games.

“I think a week one game is just as important as a week 10 game,” Roussel said. ” I think we are practicing hard and getting better right now. Outside of the West St. John game, I think our defense has improved a lot.”

West St. John versus Newman

West St. John High School is one of two local teams that look like they have the best chance to go far into the playoffs.

Other than an opening week loss to St. James High School, the WSJ Rams have won five in a row. Most recently, it was a 62-14 thrashing of Fisher High School.

However, this week’s opponent is of a much high caliber as the Rams will take to the road against Newman High School in New Orleans.

Like past NHS quarterbacks, Peyton and Eli Manning, the Greenies feature a solid quarterback in Damien Carter.

“The big key for us is that we have to put pressure on him throughout the game,” said Rams head coach Laury Dupont.

WSJ will have to control the line of scrimmage and keep Carter from connecting on long passing plays if they are going to complete their sixth-consecutive win.

“I think we are just getting better. It won’t get any easier because we will play Redeemer-Seton after that,” Dupont said.

Hahnville versus Terrebonne

Even though Hahnville High School earned a big win over Destrehan High School last Friday night, HHS head coach Lou Valdin is not ready to claim the district championship yet.

“Right now, there are two teams that control their own destiny. One is Hahnville and the other is Terrebonne,” Valdin said.

THS is undefeated and will host the unbeaten Tigers this week in Houma.

“If Terrebonne wins out, then they win the district. If we win out then we claim district. This is a crucial game for us,” said Valdin.

Also, a Terrebonne victory could make it a four-horses race with Destrehan, Hahnville and East St. John. The Houma school still has to play ESJ and Destrehan.

“Whoever wins our game is in the driver’s seat,” said Valdin.

Even though the HHS Tigers are 6-0, Valdin said there is room for improvement. He said his team needs to have better open-field tackling and do a better job on kickoff coverage.

“They (Destrehan) had a couple of big kickoffs against us that could have been trouble,” Valdin said.

Two weeks ago, Terrebonne changed offenses and the Tigers have been successful ever since.

“They have got momentum just like we do right now. It’s going to be tough,” Valdin said.

Destrehan versus H.L. Bourgeois

The Destrehan High School Fighting Wildcats look to rebound from a tough defeat Friday at the hand of Hahnville High School when DHS takes on H.L Bourgeois High School Friday night at home.

The HLB Braves are coming off a loss as well. They were defeated by East St. John last week by a score of 28-7. The contest against DHS is important for the Wildcats because it is possible the Fighting Wildcats are playing for second place. Either way, from here on out every game will be crucial for Destrehan.

The Fighting Wildcats will rely on the passing of quarterback Demarko Hutchinson and the ground game of running back Fred Smith if they are going to earn the victory.

It will not get an easier for Destrehan after HLB as they play East St. John and Terrebonne on consecutive weeks.