St. James 43 Belle Chasse 13
Wildcats Take Down Cardinals 43-13
By Kenny HymelSeptember
15, 2006
ST. JAMES, La – Both the St. James Wildcats and the Belle Chasse Cardinals entered Friday night’s contest with no one scoring a single point on them. Something had to give.
It didn’t take St. James long to assure their homecoming crowd that they were the better team tonight.
The Wildcats used as many as 9 different running backs as they “ran away” with a 43-13 victory over the Belle Chasse Cardinals (Class-4A).
Belle Chasse made the first mistake of the game and it would prove costly. Belle Chasse fumbled a punt return which set up the first score for the Wildcats. #22 Luther Ambrose took his very first carry around the corner for a 13-yard scoring run. Point after by Juaraell Narcisse was good and with 9:24 left in the first quarter, St. James led 7-0.
Exceptional defense by the first string unit has everyone thinking that it might just be safe to say that this Wildcat defense is “Legion of Doom” quality.
Good defense set up the next scoring run for the Wildcats. #22 Luther Ambrose took a carry up the middle for a 22-yard scoring run. With the point after by Narcisse, St. James led 14-0 just 4 minutes into the game.
The Wildcats struck one more time in the first quarter when #2 Antonio Phillips hit #45 Jordan Landry for a 26-yard pass on a fourth-and-fifteen. Narcisse would miss his only extra point of the night and St. James led 20-0 at the end of the first quarter.
An interception by #9 Demel Dumas set up the next score for the Wildcats. #16 Kenny Zenon – who played superb – scored on a 16-yard run. With the point after, St. James led 27-0 with 5:38 left in the first half.
The ‘Cats would get two more scores before halftime. First, #5 Gary Davis took an 11-yard run and then #16 Zenon scored his second touchdown with 6 seconds left in the first half. This set up an amazing 41-0 lead for the Wildcats going into halftime.
The Wildcats used mainly second and third string players for the entire second half, but still give credit to Belle Chasse for hanging in there. Belle Chasse’s #4 Avery Rilley took the second-half kickoff 95-yards for a score. The point after was no good and the score was then 41-6 at that point.
The Wildcats then forced their second safety of the season after blocking a punt and the ball running out-of-bounds through the end zone.
Later in the game, Rilley of Belle Chasse scored one more time as he took in a 27-yard run. The final score: 43-13.
The Wildcats will now make the trip to Chalmette next Friday to square off with the Owls in what will be the first football game played in Chalmette since Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane knocked down the stadium lights, thus the game is set for a 4:00pm start time.
NOTABLES
The 9 different players who touched the ball as a running back at least one time are as follows: #22 Luther Ambrose, #5 Gary Davis, #9 Demel Dumas, #14 Terry Isom, #10 Juarell Narcisse, #16 Kenny Zenon, #4 Edward Hill, #42 Shane Gros, and #34 Romell Stieb. Only one – Isom – is a senior.
For those who didn’t catch on to my “Legion of Doom” comment, the Wildcat defense of the mid-90’s was nicknamed the “Legion of Doom” for their hard hitting, aggressive, and discipline defensive tactics. Many great offenses fell victim to the “Legion of Doom” back in those days.
In each of the first three games this season, St. James has caused havoc to opposing teams around the goal line which led to two safeties and a punt “recovery” for a touchdown.
|