West St. John’s playoff run ends against Mangham, 36-34

Published 2:04 pm Saturday, November 28, 2015

EDGARD — West St. John’s surprising playoff run came to a heart-breaking end.
The No. 17 seed Rams fell to No. 8 Mangham, 36-34, in a Class 2A quarterfinal playoff game Friday night in Edgard.
And it all came down to a 2-point conversion — or two.
After battling back throughout the second half, the Rams scored with 7 seconds remaining when Jermoine Green connected with Jamal Walters on a 19-yard touchdown to cut Mangham’s lead to 36-34. However, Green’s pass attempt for the conversion went incomplete, sealing Mangham’s win and its spot in next week’s semifinal against Rayville.
West St. John finished the season 5-8.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, Lamore Baudoin scored on a 6-yard run to cut Mangham’s lead to 26-28 with 6:21 remaining in the game, but the Rams’ 2-point conversion attempt failed. And that proved to be crucial.
It was a somewhat surprising run for a team that went 3-7 season with a new head coach and following a move up  from Class 1A to 2A, which put the Rams into a brutal district with River Parishes rivals Riverside and St. Charles.
The Rams earned the No. 17 seed in the playoff bracket, then knocked off No. 16 seed Ferriday. But the big surprise came last week when the Rams beat No. 1 seed Many 34-30 to earn Friday night’s home quarterfinal playoff against No. 8 seed Mangham.