By GEORGE MAHL

Right now, there are several good football rivalries in the River Parishes.

Lutcher versus St. James, Riverside versus West St. John, and Destrehan versus Hahnville just to name a few.

However, those are all district games. What I think we need is more non-district rivalries in the area. Earlier this season I saw an excellent game between East St. John and Lutcher.

I also saw another non-district game that could become a rivalry in the next few years. St. James High School against West St. John High School featured two of the top-three teams in the River Parishes. I thank LHS coach Tim Detillier and WSJ coach Laury Dupont for scheduling difficult games against local teams early in the season.

I think St. James coach Rick Gaille has done a good job of scheduling River Parishes schools as non-district opponents. For example, the Wildcats have played West St. John, East St. John, and Riverside this season. Two of the three games were close. This helps generate excitement among fans and it helps create rivalries.

Right now, there are a couple of games I would like to see on future schedules. One is East St. John against West St. John and the other is Riverside versus St. Charles Catholic. The ESJ against WSJ contest would pit two of the best teams, regardless of school classification, in the River Parishes against each other and how about East Bank versus West Bank?

I am sure that game would get people, media representatives included, talking.

As far as a Riverside-St. Charles Catholic game goes, I think it would be a natural rivalry. The only two private, football-playing high schools in St. John the Baptist Parish playing against each other. I understand this used to be a big rivalry, but was discontinued a few years ago. Maybe the games just got too intense for it to continue.

When asked about playing SCC again, RA head coach Mickey Roussel had no comment.

I think it would be great because both schools have almost the same enrollment and have been winning consistently for several years. The only difference is that Riverside is a 2A school, while St. Charles Catholic is a 3A school.

Who knows, maybe these two games could end up being as anticipated as Destrehan-Hahnville?

The crowd, the excitement, and the tailgating would make these games big every year regardless of records. The rivalries would make it a win-win situation for everyone involved.

GEORGE MAHL is a sports reporter for L’Observateur. Contact him at 652-9545.