St. James 17 St. Charles 9
Wildcats Surge Late in 17-9 Victory over Comets
By Kenny HymelNovember
3, 2006
LA PLACE, La – Wildcat fans expected a tough battle and got just that as the St. James Wildcats traveled to La Place to take on the St. Charles Comets in the final game of the 2006 regular season.
Some figured St. James may start off slow due to an impressive showing against John Curtis a week ago and that one went right on script as well.
The early part of the game seen a rare dose of field goals.
St. Charles scored first, on a 35-yard field goal with 11:47 left in the first half.
St. James came back down the field and answered the Comet field goal with a field goal of their own when Juarelle Narcisse booted a 38-yarder with 6:10 left in the first half. The game would go to halftime with a 3-3 tie.
The Wildcat defense was placed in a tough position in the early going of the second half due to some turnovers, however, the defense continued to battle and forced St. Charles to kick two field goals instead of giving up touchdowns. St. Charles led 9-3 going into the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats would finally score a touchdown and it would come with 7:28 left in the game as quarterback Antonio Phillips hit Jordan Landry on a fourth-and-one for a 10-yard scoring pass. With Juarelle Narcisse’s extra point, St. James took the lead for the first time in the game, 10-9.
The Wildcat defense would then come up with a major play as cornerback Demel Dumas intercepted a pass and took it 54-yards for the touchdown. Narcisse hit the extra point to give St. James a 17-9 lead with 5:42 left in the game.
St. Charles was able to make an attempt at a comeback but the Wildcat defense would come up with a big interception in the end zone for the touchback and sealed victory. Final score: St. James wins 17-9.
NOTABLES The Wildcat “2006 Legion of Doom” defense was put in a situation where they had a chance to take back the game and they answered the call with Demel Dumas’ interception return for a score.
Hats off to field goals in high school games. You don’t see them very often and even St. James has been making a few this year. Even the Wildcat junior varsity team has been cashing in on those rare field goals. In Wednesday’s junior varsity game, Wildcat Romell Steib kicked a 39-yard field goal with seconds left to win the game. That was a JV “first” to my knowledge.
The road to the state championship will begin next Friday night at Wildcat Stadium when St. James takes on the Trojans of East Beauregard in the first round of the 2006 playoffs. The Wildcats will enter as the #2 seed in the 32-team single elimination bracket.
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