MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / November 15, 2000

ST. JAMES – When describing Green Oaks last week, St. James head coachRick Gaille said the Giants were a team that “like to pound the ball right at you.”Instead, it was the Wildcats that did most of the pounding Friday night. St.James rolled up 507 yards in the game, 351 coming on the ground, in a 43-18 victory in the Class 3A bi-district playoffs. Travell Steib led the way with136 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Michael Harry added 101 yards. Quarterback Chris Hymel scored twice on one-yard runs and threw two touchdowns to Davin Dennis. He finished with three completions in sixattempts for 107 yards.

The St. James defense allowed 305 yards, 198 through the air, but alsointercepted two passes and forced a fumble. Thaddeus Sutherland andKennie Johnson had the interceptions and Brent Joseph the fumble recovery.

Seventy-five of the yards came on a tipped pass at the end of the first half.

The defense will need another strong effort when it goes up against Winnfield this Friday in the Class 3A regionals. Winnfield, ranked sixth in the state butseeded No. 2 in the playoffs, is coming off a 41-13 victory over Bunkie in thebi-district round. The victory improved the Tigers, the District 2-3Achampions, to 11-0 on the season.

Winnfield is led by junior running back Zan Johnson who had 14 touchdowns and 1,413 yards on 219 carries. Senior receiver Freddie King is also one ofthe most highly-recruited players in the state. He had a 193-yard, two-touchdown game against Jena in October. Junior tackle Jemayel Phillips leadsthe offensive line. That group has helped the Tigers average over 28 pointsper game this season.

The defense has held opponents to an average of 8.3 points per game. TheTigers have shut out three teams and held three others to under 10 points.

That defense is led by linebackers Ryan Pickett and Terrance Wade.

The winner of Friday’s game meets the winner of Westlake and Benton in the quarterfinals next week.

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