MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / September 29, 1999

RESERVE – Riverside showed that it is definitely not a one-man team Friday night.

Playing without leading rusher and scorer Casey Remondet, the Rebels gained 427 yards in their 56-14 win over Buras. Britt Waguespack paced arushing attack that gained 375 yards, rushing for 153 yards and three touchdowns. Waguespack and Brandon Delaneuville, who combined for over1,000 yards last season, had 200 yards rushing between them Friday. Fourrunning backs scored on the ground for the Rebels.

Remondet went out with an injury in the first half of the Rebels’ victory over Vandebilt in Week 3 and Roussel said no time table has been set for his return although he might be able to play Friday. But with Waguespackand Delaneuville as well as Neil Richard and Seth Johnson, running back is not an area of concern as far as depth.

“We knew going into the season, running back was a position we had bodies,” Riverside coach Mickey Roussel said. “We have four or five guysthere. Casey is a big part of this football team. I’m not glad he’s out. Butwe are doing ok. There’s no pressure to rush him right now. I want himback at 99 percent or up, not at 85 percent. When he comes back, we willjust be a better football team.”Quarterbacks Damian Melancon and Michael Schoen saw equal action Friday night although Melancon has been getting more snaps recently. The twohave helped guide the Rebels’ offense to 190 points through the first four games, best in the River Parishes. The defense hasn’t been overshadowedhowever, allowing just 38 points four games into the season.

“Both units complement each other, Roussel said. “The offense has hadsome good drives going and that keeps the defense on the sidelines. Thedefense has been holding teams to three-and-out and providing decent field position. It goes hand in hand.”Both units will need to be clicking again this week as the Rebels (4-0 overall, 1-0 in District 9-2A), ranked second in Class 2A, host Redeemer- Seton (3-1, 1-0) in district play. at 7 p.m. Friday.Redeemer-Seton is coming off a 20-12 victory over Fisher in district play.

The Rams, which figured to be rebuilding this season after losing 12 seniors from a season ago, are off to a quick start.

The Rams are led by elusive quarterback Donald Allen, one of the leading passers in the metro area with over 463 yards and four touchdowns going into last week’s game. Allen’s main targets are split ends Damien Howard,a 6-foot-3 sophomore, and Nick Hunter, a 5-10 junior. The two havecombined for over 400 yards and 20 catches this season. Junior KendrickBailey leads the rushing attack.

“They are spread out on offense,” Roussel said. “They have two split endsthat can catch the ball and go with it. They are big up front. Defensively,they come from all over the place. You can take advantage of it but theycan also make you look really bad. If we play assignment football, we canmake things happen. We have to make sure we take care of ourselves,having the right pursuit angles and be in position.” A possible undefeated matchup could be brewing in two weeks when the Rebels host West St. John. But Roussel said he wants his team’sconcentration focused on the task at hand this week.

“I’ve been preaching over the years that we play one game a week,” Roussel said. “We need to take care of this game. With the athletesRedeemer-Seton has, we better take care of business Tuesday and Wednesday for Redeemer-Seton and not anybody else.”

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