By LEONARD GRAY

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Managing Editor

NEW ORLEANS – The West St. John Rams repeated as Class 2A state football champions Friday night with a 46-2 trampling of the St. Helena Hawks at the Louisiana Superdome.

Running back Patrick Jackson was named Most Valuable Player, as he scored four touchdowns and set a new individual rushing yardage record at the Nokia Sugar Bowl Prep Classic.

The two-year-old record of 257 yards, set by Jay Lucas of Redemptorist in 2002 fell Friday as Jackson piled up a net 263 yards. His longest carry of the game was 76 yards and he averaged 10.1 yards per carry.

The first quarter saw the Rams get off to a shaky start. St. Helena won the toss and received the opening kickoff but after a few punt exchanges, a fumble forced by Larry Freeman ended up in the end zone for a two-point safety for the Hawks with 5:55 on the clock.

After that, the Rams got into the game and proceeded to dissect their opponents, bit by bit.

On the next possession, West St. John started at their own 16-yard line and drove to the Hawks’ 9-yard line. From there, Jackson plunged over for the touchdown with 1:05 on the first quarter clock. Quarterback Juan Joseph, who was to account for 86 passing yards in the game, hit Deron Bartholomew for the two-point conversion and the 8-0 lead.

After several more punt exchanges, West St. John started a drive on their own 24-yard line, with 3:59 on the clock. Thirteen seconds and 76 yards later, Jackson was crossing the goal line for the touchdown, having blown past the Hawks’ defense. A two-point conversion pass try failed, but the Rams had the 14-0 lead for halftime.

Late in the third quarter, the Rams opened up full-blast, scoring three touchdowns in three minutes. This is how it went down.

First, a Rams fumble was recovered by Freeman at the Ram 47. Hawk’s QB Anthony Baker was sacked on the next play and lost the ball to Talon Gauthier for West St. John at the St. Helena 42. On the first play, Joseph nailed Tiarus Jenkins for the touchdown. The PAT pass to Jenkins made it 22-2. Time: 5:33.

Next, Ray Bartholomew returned a Hawks punt 57 yards for the touchdown and Jackson rushed for the PAT, which made it 30-2. Time: 3:48.

Then, on the first play from scrimmage after the kickoff, Baker’s pass was intercepted by Kelly Burke, who returned it 26 yards to the St. Helena 10-yard line. On the first play, Jackson dove in for the score, which made it 38-2. Time: 3:15.

Jackson scored once more on the final play of the third quarter, a four-yard run with 1:43 left in the period, which made it 38-2.

Then, less than five minutes later, with 9:42 left in the game, Jackson ran for 22 yards for his fourth touchdown. Joseph connected with Jenkins and it was 46-2.

Joseph Thomas yanked in an interception after that to further demoralize the Hawks, and soon, it was all over.

This was also West St. John’s final game as a Class 2A school, as it drops to Class 1A for the next two years. This was the sixth title game appearance since the inception of the Prep Classic in 1981.

This is also the third win, having beaten Riverside, 28-23, in 1998 and beating Sterlington 41-21 last year.