EDGARD — Louisiana’s high school football coaches have learned not to count out the West St. John High Rams.

For the second year in a row, West St. John finished the regular season with a sub .500 record and earned a low seed in the Class 2A playoff bracket. Last year it was No. 17; this year it’s No. 24.

Just as they did last year, the Rams went on the road and stunned their opponent.

West St. John travelled from the dot on the map called Edgard to the dot called Jackson to play No. 9 seed East Feliciana High, and came away with an upset, 25-12, victory.

“We like to live by the wire,” Rams coach Brandon Walters said. “We knew the kind of brutal schedule we’ve played. We knew we are a good football team.”

Now the Rams (4-7) are hoping to do just as they did last year and knock off another higher seed. This week West St. John hosts No. 8 seed South Plaquemines Hurricanes (8-3), which defeated No. 25 Fisher 57-7.

West St. John is hoping to minimize the damage that can be done by the Hurricanes’ two brutal running backs, Micah Ancar and Elijah Bourgeois. Last week the two combined for 354 yards and five touchdowns.

Drew Sanger added 80 yards and one touchdown on just five carries. Trashawn Polius had two carries for 45 yards with one touchdown, plus he scored on a 45-yard interception return.

Walters said his team will be ready.

“It should be a good game,” he said.

The Rams dominated East Feliciana last week. Quarterback Austin Alexander passed for three touchdowns and ran for another. One of those scoring passes was a 75-yarder to Marcus Boudoin. He also threw a 70-yard touchdown to Kedric Gray.

On defense, Jamal Walters had a pair of interceptions.

“Austin ran real well, threw real well; Kedric ran well,” Walters said. “We really dominated them. This is our time to shine.”

Riverside at

Ouachita Christian

This week is Riverside Academy’s turn to take the long bus ride up to north Louisiana.

The Rebels, the No. 1 seed in Division III, will travel to Monroe to play No. 9 seed Ouachita Christian, which defeated No. 8 seed Haynes, 49-6.

The Eagles (10-1) are led by quarterback Grant Fitzhugh, who ran for three touchdowns and passed for two more last week. Skylor Wilhite rushed for 51 yards and another touchdown.

Ouachita Christian’s defense, meanwhile, held Haynes to one first down in the first half.

The Rebels (9-1) managed to dominate Sacred Heart despite some surprises. Sacred Heart elected to throw the ball on every down but two.

Riverside coach Bill Stubbs said his team took a while to adjust.

“They obviously saw they weren’t going to be able to run against us so they just started throwing it,” Stubbs said.

The teams also had to contend with an officiating crew that threw more than 30 penalty flags. Stubbs said the key this week will be to take care of business.

“We do what we do,” he said. “We’re going to practice the same. We’re going to play the same. We don’t change because of who we’re playing.”

Calvary Baptist

at St. Charles

St. Charles Catholic coach Frank Monica is happy his team is staying home for Friday night’s game against No. 6 seed Calvary Baptist.

“We won’t have far to run when the game is over,” he joked.

St. Charles (8-2), keeps finding ways to win. Last week the No. 3  Comets took a solid 45-6 win over No. 14 Thomas Jefferson.

This week they face a big, talented 7-3 team coming off a 56-47 win against No. 11 Opelousas Catholic.

“Somebody said we’d have to score 40 points to beat them,” Monica said. “I hope we keep them under 50 points.”

That might be difficult. The Cavaliers finished with 629 yards of offense, but they allowed 533.

Calvary quarterback Cade Hart was 22 of 32 for 290 yards with four touchdowns. Kyle Jones, had 10 catches for 253 yards and two touchdowns.

Kordavion “DaDa” Washington rushed for 139 yards and four touchdowns.

“They’re scary,” Monica said. “Very scary. We just have to take care of the football on offense and play sound football.”