BY RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

On a night of wild finishes and overtime affairs, St. James and Plaquemine held serve. The Wildcats came out with the victory — and the outright District 8-3A title — but it took four overtime periods to finish off the high scoring, 34-32 affair at Plaquemine.

Before overtime, a defensive slugfest took hold as the teams finished regulation tied 12-12. Plaquemine led 6-0 at halftime.

“Our defense played well, but offensively we just came out sluggish,” said St. James coach Rick Gaille. “In the second half, we rectified that. We scored twice and drove inside their 20 on another occasion. We picked it up … it was really a matter of tempo. When we play with a fast tempo, we’re aggressive. When we play slowly, we’re passive and reactive. It hasn’t worked for us.”

Shaquille Narcisse supplied the game-winning points for St. James (4-5, 4-0), scoring the touchdown to tie the game at 32, then rushing for the game-winning two-point conversion .

In the first overtime, each team stopped the other on fourth and inches. In the second, each scored and converted a two-pointer. In the third, each scored and stopped a two pointer.

St. James finishes its district schedule undefeated. It will face Karr next week in a non-district contest.