By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — The District 6-5A battlefield is full of landmines, something certainly not lost on East St. John coach Larry Dauterive as his team prepares to begin district play on Friday night at St. Amant.

But he believes his Wildcats are up to the task. They’re certainly battle tested, with Patterson and Rummel among victims of their 5-0 start to the season.

“Clearly, this is one of the most talented districts in the state,” said Dauterive. “These days, the district title is more about bragging rights than anything. It’s about who you beat in the first five games as much as who you beat in the last five. Every game is important to us, and we’ll treat these games as we did the five before.

“Every team’s goal is to be in that top 32 at the end. Then it’s to be in that top 16, to host a game. That’s what we’re gunning for.”

He noted that Friday night’s game offers a unique challenge to the Wildcats. East St. John will be headed to play in one of the state’s more unique atmospheres at St. Amant.

“The way the field is built, the stands are almost right on top of the field,” said Dauterive. “It’s such a good, high school atmosphere. The proximity of the fans makes it enjoyable, but also tough.”

But Dauterive also notes that his team should be able to handle things.

“They’ve had some great teams playing at that ‘Gator Pit.’ But we’ve already played in some hostile environments. St. James, Rummel, Patterson … we won’t be intimidated for sure.”

St. Amant enters with a 3-2 record, its most recent contest a 56-0 home win over Sarah Reed. After dropping its first two games, close losses to Hammond and Covington, the Gators have won three straight including wins over Plaquemine and Bonnabel. In their three wins, St. Amant averaged 48 points per game behind their option offense.

“The option’s given us some issues this season. We have to be disciplined,” said Dauterive.

Last season, East St. John got off to a fast start and rolled to a 53-21 win at Joe Keller Stadium.

In that game, quarterback Kalen Henderson accounted for over 300 total yards and five touchdowns.

If that kind of production continues, it will fall on new quarterback Darion Monroe.

He’s filled Henderson’s shoes quite capably so far this season and had another strong performance in Friday’s 53-28 win at Carencro. He finished the game with 187 passing yards and two touchdowns on 9 of 11 passing to compliment 65 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. His first eight passes of the night were complete.

“He’s very accurate,” said Dauterive. “He’s so dangerous when you get him going left to right, and he can drop back and let it fly with the best of them. He’s our catalyst and unquestioned leader.”

Dauterive does want to see improvements, though, even with the perfect record intact. Defensively, ESJ made some big plays Friday—like Floyd Raven’s forced fumble and 93-yard return for a score—but Dauterive said the Wildcats are allowing too many long drives. ESJ averages just 40 plays a game this season.

“We’re averaging 40 points on 40 plays,” said Dauterive. “Our defense was just average on Friday, though. We can’t allow teams to just keep our offense on the sideline.”

Another area of concern came on kick coverage. Carencro started numerous drives deep in Wildcat territory.

But at the end of the day Dauterive is pretty pleased with where his team is these days, noting you can’t be better than 5-0 right now.

As for St. Amant, the talkative Dauterive is actually calling for a bit of silence.

“They shoot a cannon every time they score. We want to muzzle that thing as much as we can,” he said.