RESERVE — Riverside and De La Salle both had a week off last week, but that’s where the similarities Friday night between these two teams end.

Behind the punishing running of quarterback Julien Gums and running back Kendall Collins Jr., the Cavaliers, the No. 1 ranked team in Class 3A, left Mickey Roussel Field in Reserve with a 42-21 victory over the No. 4 team in Class 2A.

Gums did most of the work, running for 157 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. He threw only two passes — one a 3-yard completion to Collins, the other a 38-yard touchdown to Aaron Marquez.

Collins did the rest of the work, rushing for 112 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries.

In all the Cavaliers amassed 302 yards rushing.

“It was a tough game, but we came out and just ran the ball,” Gums said. “We just kept the game flowing. I give it up to the O-line. They fought the whole game and they just kept fighting hard. We couldn’t do it without them.”

Riverside, on the other hand, finished with 43 yards rushing after factoring in three sacks for Rebels quarterback Jordan Loving. Louis Cheneau and Jeremy Gibson scored on short-yardage runs.

Loving threw one touchdown, a 19-yard pass to Cash Foley in the fourth quarter. It was that kind of night for the senior, who was 23 of 40 for 238 yards.

“That’s a real good football team,” Riverside coach Chris Lachney said. “They’ve got it all together. We have to understand that we own our circumstances. We just have to learn from this and move on.”

After matching touchdowns in the first quarter, De La Salle took a 21-7 lead before the half, mainly by keeping the ball out of the Rebels’ hands. The Cavaliers rolled up 17:44 in time of possession in the first half, compared to Riverside’s 8:16.

It didn’t get any better in the second half. The Rebels had one possession that went longer than three minutes. Two lasted less than a minute.

“We knew possessions would be a premium,” Lachney said. “And we had to make the most of them. We didn’t do that at all.”

Riverside scored with 1:16 remaining in the third quarter on a 7-yard run by Gibson and then stopped the Cavs at their own 45-yard line with 7:23 remaining in the game.

But the Rebels’ next drive ended with Nakia Ealy II recovered a fumble and return to the Rebels’ 30-yard line. Three plays later, Collins scored from the 12 to give De La Salle a 35-14 lead with 6:12 remaining in the game.

Riverside came back with a 50-yard scoring drive, set up by Garland Robertson’s kickoff return. On the 10th play of the drive, Loving threw his only touchdown pass of the night to Foley from the 19.

De La Salle answered quickly, though. After recovering the onside kick attempt at their own 48. Gums ran left for 15 then left again for 37 to cap the scoring with 4:18 remaining in the game.

ESJH – 34, H.L. Bourgeois – 13

Overflow crowds of fans at Friday’s East St. John High homecoming were treated to excellent football as the Wildcats dominated H. L. Bourgeois 34–13.

Cars and trucks spilled out the parking lot, down Airline Highway and around surrounding streets as fans picked the perfect game to attend.

ESJH coach Alden Foster has his team off to a great start in District, as the Wildcats are now 2-0 in District 7-5A and 3-2 overall.

The Wildcats played well throughout night, their defense strong until the end, even scoring a touchdown of their own through fumble recovery with seven minutes to go into the fourth quarter.

With 2:44 left in the first quarter, Dasmain Crosby ran it in from the 3-yard-line, giving ESJH the lead at 6-0.  The scoring continued with 11:42 left in the second quarter via a Crosby to Cameron Grant 53-yard one-hand touchdown grab. Crosby later connected with Javon Antonio on the two-point conversion.

With 9:58 left in the fourth quarter, Crosby hit Antonio on an 18-yard pass for a touchdown. Calvin Gardner Jr. ran in the conversion, making the score 22-6.

On H.L.’s next possession, D’Andrei Pittman picked up a fumble and raced 37 yards for a TD. The next possession also included a fumble, with Jarius Monroe taking it back 47 yards for a score and a 34-6 lead.

Crosby finished the day 13 of 20 for 175 yards and 2 touchdowns. He ran 17 times for 134 yards and a score.

WSJH – 61, White Castle  – 6

Going into Friday’s game against White Castle, West St. John High coach Brandon Walters said he saw some things on film that he wanted to attack offensively.

The Rams (3-2) did that and a whole lot more, racking up an impressive 61-6 victory in Edgard.

Following the game, Walters was especially proud of quarterback D’Andre Gaudia, sharing that the sophomore threw for four touchdown and helped lead a balanced attack.

“We know what we are capable of doing and we really did well offensively,” Walters said. “We were able to get a lot of the younger kids in and get them some quality work and reps. We rushed the ball pretty well; I think we had over 300 yards rushing. It was a very good performance in every facet of the game.”

Not to be outdone, the Rams defenders were special in smothering the Bulldogs’ offense.

Wantrell Williams and Niko Davis each collected interceptions in a turnover-filled performance.

Walters said his players and fellow coaches would not dwell on the win too long, promising to be on to the next game before Saturday ended.

SCC — 2, East Ascension– 21

The 5A East Ascension Spartans ended St. Charles Catholic’s run of victories, topping the Comets 21-2 Friday night in Gonzales.

East Ascension (4-1) won the coin toss and controlled tempo from there, much as SCC coach Frank Monica feared, when he said the Spartans’ massive and athletic squad would be the Comets’ toughest test of the season.

East Ascension forced an early first quarter interception and scored a touchdown quickly after for a 7-0 lead, points that would prove all that was necessary. The lead was later punched to 14-0 by halftime as SCC uncharacteristically missed a late second quarter field goal.

SCC’s best gasp to tighten the game ended inside the Spartans’ 5-yard-line as they turned the ball over on downs with 2:42 left in the third quarter.

The typically strong SCC defense did respond thereafter, forcing a safety but the effort would prove St. Charles Catholic’s only points.