MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / December 13, 2000

RESERVE – To find the seeds that eventually developed into Riverside’s run to the Class 2A state championship game in 2000, one would have to go back to the last game of the 1999 season, a 37-0 loss to cross-parish rival West St.

John in the regionals.

It was after that game and during this past spring that the Rebels took a look at their team and realized they had a good shot of making a run in 2000.

Twenty-four seniors would be returning, providing experience and leadership.

“In the spring, we knew we had a good team coming back,” senior linebacker Ryan Bugay said.

That belief spread as the team went through its offseason workouts and into fall practice. It really developed as the Rebels opened the non-District 9-2Aschedule with victories over St. Charles Catholic, L.B. Landry, VandebiltCatholic and E.D. White.”When we started playing some pretty decent teams and really doing well against them, that’s when we knew we had a good chance of getting there (the state championship game),” senior defensive lineman Sean Delaneuville said.

And it continued as the Rebels swept through the district schedule and into the playoffs.

“We had a good season,” Melancon said. “We had a good offseason and agood weight program. We worked hard and it showed in going 14-0.”Riverside was helped out by one of its most balanced attacks in years. TheRebels ran for over 3,600 yards with Britt Waguespack and Brandon Delaneuville accounting for over 2,100 of them and 25 touchdowns. Melanconpassed for over 1,600 yards, helping the Rebels break the 1,800-yard mark through the air.

“We had a lot of weapons,” Melancon said. “We had a good offensive line. Thecoaches did a good job of mixing the players up. If you keyed on one player,we would mix it up.

“A lot of it had to do with (offensive coordinator) coach (John) White calling good plays. We had four good guys running the ball and a lot of receivers whocould catch the ball. And with good protection, you can do anything.”The defense struggled at times early on but came on at the end.

“We came together as a team,” Bugay said. “When we did that, we becamebetter as a unit and as a team.”That was evident in Riverside’s playoff opener against Loyola. The defenseheld the Flyers to 107 yards in offense in a 28-7 win.

“The defense just played great against Loyola,” Melancon said. “It gave thedefense a lot of confidence.”The Rebels would go on to shut down two of the top running backs in the state in wins over North Vermilion and St. Thomas Aquinas. After a slowstart against Farmerville in the semifinals, the defense helped the Rebels rally in the fourth quarter, sending them to the championship game for the third time in seven years against Ouachita Christian.

Bugay gave the Rebels an early 7-0 lead with a 27-yard return of an interception. But the Eagles would rally, using an 82-yard touchdown passfrom Cam Rowan to Dennis Burke to take a 13-7 lead into halftime.

“That was a back-breaker,” Melancon said.

But Bugay said the team knew that it was not out of the game yet at halftime.

“We didn’t panic,” Bugay said. “We knew we were down only one score. Wecould come out and put points on the board. We didn’t want to get ouremotions too high and play on emotion. We had to play level and stick withthe game plan.”Bugay was proved right as the Rebels drove downfield on their first possession of the second half and scored on a seven-yard run by Brandon Delaneuville to take a 14-13 lead. But Ouachita Christian again came back,scoring on its next possession on a 38-yard touchdown pass from Rowan to Burke. A fourth quarter touchdown would give the Eagles a 28-14 win.”They never gave up,” Delaneuville said of Ouachita Christian. “We hadopportunities to win it. But my hats off to Ouachita Christian, they did anexcellent job.”But despite the disappointment of falling in the final game, Bugay, Delaneuville and Melancon said it was still a fun season.

“We came together really well as a team,” Bugay said. “This year, there wasno individualism. We learned a lot about life. Playing football made us allbetter people.””We were like a family,” Delaneuville added.

Melancon added that there were a lot of things that the team would take away from the season.

“It was fun,” Melancon said. “We had a lot of big games. I just wish we couldhave won the last won. But we had a lot of unity and friendships. That you willremember for the rest of your life.”

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