By JOHN HOWARD

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE-The Wildcats’ dreams of a state championship ended abruptly on Friday night, as the Barbe Buccaneers defense and special teams led them to a 28-17 victory over the Wildcats.

Although neither team’s offense scored in the second half, Barbe’s Ernest Celestis weaved in and out of traffic, turned on the boosters, switched field and broke more tackles than Mike Tyson did noses as he returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown with 49 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The Bucs threatened again at the end of the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats’ defense showed its resiliency making a huge stand inside its own five, forcing a turnover on downs.

With under a minute left in the game, the Wildcats just didn’t have enough time to muster up a comeback.

“You gave me 100 percent and that’s all I ask,” said East St. John Head Coach Larry Dauterive. “Do not hang your heads. We’re going to use this as a building block for next season.”

Earlier in the game, quarterback Eric Cuterea who was 9-of-14 on the night for 143 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, decided to give it to Edmonson to cap off a 61-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run for the first score of the night to make it 7-0.

Although the Wildcats were plagued with offensive penalties in the first quarter with five for 40 yards, they managed to pull it together and mount an 80-yard touchdown-scoring drive.

Quarterback Andre Millet and running back Alex Singleton, who rushed for 81 yards on 14 carries, combined power running and shifty footwork to move the ball down the field and cap off the drive with a 15-yard rushing touchdown as Singleton breezed through the middle untouched.

Although Millet put up 50 plus yards rushing he struggled a bit in the passing game completing only 4-of-9 passes with one touchdown. However, all four of the completed passes were over 10 yards.

An immaculate pass came with only 58 seconds remaining in the half as Millet launched up a bomb to David Hampton. Hampton barely outran the coverage to snag the ball, which traveled 50 yards through the air, for a touchdown to put the Wildcats within one touchdown 21-14.

On the Bucs’ next possession, Cuterea attempted a miracle pass of his own. However he wasn’t so fortunate as Wildcats’ defensive back Deabron Lewis intercepted the pass and returned it 40 yards to set up a Bryce Robertson 38-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the half to bring the Wildcats within four 21-17.

However that would be East St. John’s last score of the night as the Barbe defense shutout the Wildcat offense in the second half.

“When we kicked the field goal before half, we had the momentum going,” said Dauterive. “It was a four-point game. When they scored that touchdown on that field goal punt, it was just a great athlete making a great play. It was a turning point in the game because up until then it was a four-point game; we were still in it. The difference in the game was that punt return.”

After the game, Coach Dauterive told his team that he was proud of them and that they should hold their heads up high because they had nothing to be ashamed of