by RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

East St. John running back Alex Singleton did not start or finish the Wildcats’ regular season finale against East Ascension. But he certainly made his presence known.

Singleton rushed 11 times for 144 yards and two touchdowns as host East St. John rolled to victory, 39-3.

The victory establishes East St. John as runner up in district 6-5A, behind first place Destrehan.

Singleton did not start due to an injury that limited his practice time this week. But he made the most of his limited carries – and East St. John led 32-0 at halftime. All 32 first half points for East St. John were accumulated in the second quarter. Wildcats quarterback Andre Millet found wide receiver David Hampton for three touchdowns in the first half. Hampton caught three passes for 131 yards on the night. Millet completed four passes for 141 yards.

Since Millet has took over at quarterback three weeks ago at Destrehan, the Wildcats have had an added dimension on offense that they lacked early on this year.

“Now, we’re making people back up,” said East St. John coach Larry Dauterive. “They can’t just play nine in the box.

“He’s given us a spark. He has good mobility, he can get out of a bad play.”

No. 12 seeded East St. John (6-4, 4-1) will now host No. 21 Barbe on Friday night at 7 p.m.

East Ascension (3-7, 0-5) led 3-0 after one quarter. But Millet found Hampton on the first play of the second quarter for a 71-yard touchdown.

Singleton then scored on runs of 3 and 32 yards to make it 21-3.

Millet dialed up Hampton for long scores of 29 and 31 yards before halftime, making it 32-3.

Reynaldo Young polished off the scoring for the Wildcats in the third quarter, scoring on a 19-yard run.

“This is a great way to end the regular season,” Dauterive said. “We worked our way back into it. Hopefully, we’re peaking right about now.”

East St. John held East Ascension to 110 yards of total offense.

Singleton ends the regular season with 1507 rushing yards.

“He’s incredible,” Dauterive said.

As far as this Friday night’s bi-district opener, Dauterive encourages those planning on attending to buy their tickets at the school before Friday night – tickets are $7, before and the night of the game – as East St. John has one ticket booth, and lines could become an issue.