MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / September 8, 1999

EDGARD – Carl Gauthier hit Marlon Jackson on a 6-yard slant with 37 seconds left, giving West St. John its first victory over St. James since1993, 20-14, Friday night.

Gauthier passed for 214 and three touchdowns on 11 completions in 14 attempts. Jeremy Lumar had three catches for 89 yards and a score whileBrian Lumar added three for 43 yards and a score. Devin Herbert led theRams with 70 yards rushing on 8 attempts.

For the Wildcats, Corey Webster 4 completions in 11 attempts for 49 yards. Travell Steib had 14 carries for 91 yards. Montrell Steib rushed 14times for 95 yards and a score. Byron Keller had 51 yards and a touchdownon 10 tries.

West St. John had driven to the St. James 2-yard line 6:50 remaining butAmone Lumar was hit by Shane Kliebert in the backfield and fumbled with Tyrus Luke recovering for the Wildcats at the 3.

The Rams defense held the Wildcats to one first down and West St. Johntook at the St. James 41 with under two minutes left. On fourth-and-7from the 38, the Rams decided to go for it and Gauthier made the gamble pay off by hitting Jackson crossing over the middle for a 19-yard gain to the 19. Three plays later from the 16, Gauthier hit Jackson on a quickslant with Jackson racing down the middle of the field for the score. Thetry for 2 failed but the Rams had taken the lead with 37 seconds remaining.

St. James had one more chance and moved to its 42 behind a roughing thepasser call and a 7-yard scramble by Webster. But Jeremy Lumar thenintercepted Webster’s desperation pass at the 25 and returned it to the 32 with 23 seconds left.

“It’s been a long time coming,” West St. John coach Laury Dupont said ofthe victory. “The defense made a great play and got us the ball right back.We came right back and scored. We thought about punting the ball (on thatfinal drive) but the kids wanted to go for it. That shows the character ofthis team. It’s a great accomplishment for the kids.”St. James had tied the game at 14 late in the third quarter. With the Ramsat the Wildcats’ 43 after a 35-yard leaping grab by Brian Lumar, Atari Raymond stepped in front of a Gauthier pass at the 40 and returned it to the West St. John 9-yard down before being tackled by Gauthier. Kellerwent up the middle for 7 yards and then bulled in from 2 yards out for the score. Bartholomew’s extra point just made it over the cross bar, tyingthe game at 14 with 43 seconds left in the quarter.

West St. John took over its first possession of the second half at its own32-yard line. On the first play, Gauthier was sacked by Justin Aubert for a6-yard loss but a face-masking penalty gave the Rams a first down at the 42. Two plays later, Devin Herbert swept right and went down thesidelines for 31 yards before being taken down from behind by Raymond at the Wildcats’ 27. After a 4-yard gain by Amone Lumar, Gauthier foundBrian Lumar in the left flat. Lumar hauled in the past and beat thedefender to the left corner of the end zone for the score. Gauthier thenfound Jeremy Lumar open in the right side of the end zone for the 2-point conversion, making it 8-7 with 9:11 left in the third.

West St. John got the ball back at its 30 on its next possession and wentright back to work. On the first play, Gauthier split a pass into JeremyLumar on the left sidelines for a 30-yard gain to the St. James 40. After aholding call against the Wildcats gave the Rams a first down at the 10, Gauthier lofted a pass to Jeremy Lumar on the right sidelines. Lumaroutleapt two defenders for the ball at the 2 and fell into the end zone.

Gauthier was sacked on the 2-point attempt by Raymond, leaving the score at 14-7 with 5:54 remaining in the third.

West St. John looked to be in good position after Amone Lumar recovered afumble by Cedric Vaughn on a punt return at the St. James’ 30-yard linewith 3:33 left. But on the first play after the turnover, the Wildcats gotthe ball back as Vaughn took a deflection of a Gauthier pass back to the Wildcat 39. One play later, Montrell Steib swept left, went down thesidelines, evaded a diving tackle by Tremaine Nathan at the 25 and outran the defense to complete the 61-yard score. Alvin Bartholomew came in tohit the extra point, making it 7-0 with 3:09 left.

St. James controlled the ball for 10:05 of the first quarter but could notscore on two drives inside West St. John territory. On the first play fromscrimmage from the Wildcat 27, Travell Steib swept right for 24 yards before being tackled from behind by Jeremy Lumar.

Montrell Steib swept left for 10 yards and byron Keller gained 5 yards up the middle to the Rams’ 28. But on the next play, Travell Steib mishandleda pitch with Brian Lumar recovering for the Rams at the 31.

St. James got the ball back at its 23 with Travell Steib immediatelypicking up 20 yards on a sweep to the right. Keller picked up a first downon a 3-yard run on third-and-2 from the Rams’ 39. Three plays later, theWildcats caught a break as Alvin Bartholomew slipped down on a pass from Webster but caught the ball lying on his back at the 16-yard after it was tipped by Brian Lumar. But the Rams’ defense again held, holding DavinDennis to a 15-yard gain on a pass from Webster on fourth-and-18 from the 24.

Jereal Dillon recovered a fumble by Amone Lumar at the West St. John 28-yard line two possessions later. But the Wildcats gave it back four playslater as Keller fumbled and Jeremy Lumar recovered at the 4-yard line.

“We should have been three touchdowns up at halftime,” St. James coachRick Gaille said. “We wanted to bang it at them and we did. It had aneffect early on and it would have continued to have an effect if we could have gotten it in. You can’t let West St. John have momentum and that’swhat happened.”West St. John then got its first sustained drive going. Gauthier hit BrianLumar for a 12-yard gain to the 15. Gauthier then carried for 11 and 17yards on consecutive attempts, giving the Rams a first down at the 43. Butafter a 5-yard gain by Gauthier, consecutive penalties pushed the Rams back to the 40 and Brian Lumar came in to punt.

Return To Sports Stories

Copyright © 1998, Wick Communications, Inc.

Internet services provided by NeoSoft.

Best viewed with 3.0 or higher