By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

In a season where most everything seemed to be going right for East St. John, Friday night’s 34-0 loss at district foe Dutchtown sticks out like a sore thumb.

An offense averaging nearly 40 points and over 400 yards per contest was shut out and handcuffed to only 56 total yards. Top playmaking wideout D’haquille Williams missed the game due to a school-related suspension. And the ESJ defense, which played so well a week prior against Destrehan, was solved by a healthy dose of the Griffin running game.

“It was Halloween for us,” said ESJ coach Larry Dauterive. “It was a night of horrors.”

Despite the loss, East St. John (7-2, 3-1) will travel to Hahnville on Friday night with a chance to win a share of the District 6-5A crown.

But Dauterive says that if his team doesn’t clean up its mistakes, Hahnville will create a sequel to ESJ’s loss in Geismar.

By his count, there were 11 dropped passes on the a rainy night – ESJ quarterback Kalen Henderson completed only two-of-20 passes for 18 yards.

Dutchtown also intercepted four passes, including one that was returned for a touchdown.

The Griffins (6-3, 2-2) quickly went ahead 14-0 on a pair of 3-yard touchdown runs, one by Troy Lewis and one by Effrim Reed.

One of the ESJ drops loomed large on the next Dutchtown score, a second quarter interception return of 27-yards by Griffins defender Marcus Godfrey, a ball that was deflected by a Wildcat. It made it 21-0.

“Dropped it right into the defender’s hand. It turned things in their favor for good,” said Dauterive.

Reed scored two more first half touchdowns, one on a 24-yard pass from Leon Blouin and another on a 9-yard run.

From there, the Wildcats defense held, but it was too late.

“We pride ourselves on the balance of our offense,” said Dauterive. “You get down 34-0, they’re rushing three and dropping eight. Our line gave us time, but trying to throw into those small windows, in those conditions, with only five receivers against eight…you’re chances aren’t great.”

The Griffins rushed for 154 yards on the night, including 109 by Reed.

“I thought we were prepared for that Wing-T, but then the lights went on and we were confused,” said Dauterive.

Dutchtown won the field position battle, consistently backing ESJ up in its own territory.

“You can’t free wheel when you’re that deep,” said Dauterive.