ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / November 21, 1999

LAPLACE- Thirty-eight hundred football fans were treated to the upset of the night as the West St. John Rams repeated history and beat theRiverside Rebels by the score of 38-0.

Carl Gauthier put on a dazzling display of aerial gamesmanship with 32 attempts, 22 completions for 278 yards and four touchdowns. The Ramstotally dominated the Rebels the entire evening. West St. John racked up405 total yards as compared to 119 for Riverside.

The Rebels’ usually reliable running back Casey Remondet had 20 carries but only 69 yards, and quarterback Damian Melancon passed for only 39 yards with one interception. He was also sacked five times by a ferociousRam defense.

The mood for the game was apparent on the opening kickoff when Rebel Bradley Hodges fumbled the kickoff and Derrick Morris of the Rams recovered it on the Rebels’ 32-yard line.

With eight plays, all in the air, the Rams quickly moved down to the Rebels’ 2-yard line and Gauthier threw his first touchdown pass to Brian Lumar with 8:47 left in the first quarter. West St. John tried for a 2-point conversion, but the pass was blocked.

The Rebels took over on their own 20, but had to punt the ball after losing a yard in three plays.

West St. John took over on their own 29 and passed and ran the balldownfiled again to the Rebel 2-yard line. This time, Devin Herbert ran itinto the end zone for the Rams’ only rushing touchdown of the evening.

Again, the 2-point conversion was blocked and with less than five and a half minutes left in the quarter, the Rams were ahead 12-0.

The Rebels managed to run the ball from their 23 to the 33, but they were forced to punt. The kick was blocked and the Rams took over on theRebels’ 49-yard line.

Five plays later, Gauthier connected with Lumar for a 16-yard touchdown pass. With less than two minutes in the second quarter, the Rams wereahead 18-0.

The Rams wasted a lot of clock time with over 13 plays, and got the ball down to the Rebels’ 12 yard line. However, the Riverside defense gottough and managed to get the ball back on downs for the Rebels.

But the Rebels’ luck was not to last very long because on first-and-10, Melancon was intercepted by Herbert who ran it back 27 yards for a touchdown.

The Rams finally converted a 2-point conversion but it was nullified because they had too many men on the field. The score with four minutesleft in the half was 24-0.

Riverside took over on their 30 and Melancon stared to connect with passes to Gary Entremont. But on a fourth and one, the sure-handedRemondet fumbled and Ram Arlando Comminie recovered on the West St.

John 48.

The Rams run it down to the Rebels’ 5 yard line and with two seconds left in the half, Gauthier connected with Lumar again for a score. The Ramsconverted the two points and the half ended 32-0 There were no points scored in the third quarter as both teams traded the ball several times. The Rebels had their longest drive of 28 yards whichwas abruptly brought to a halt by the second sack of Melancon that evening.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Rams started on their 45-yard line and drove down to the Rebels’ 19 and Gauthier hit Donreil Louis for a touchdown and the final score of the evening.

Next week, West St. John will play either Many or Ferriday in the quarterfinals.

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