By RYAN ARENA

L’ObserVATEUR

RESERVE – With all East St. John has been through and seen this season, coach Ronald Barrilleaux couldn’t be surprised by his team’s unlikely first round draw.

As the sixth seed, the Wildcats would expect to go into such a matchup against a No. 27 seed as the heavy favorite.

But Acadiana is no ordinary 27 seed. Really, it’s not a 27 seed at all.

The Rams were forced to forfeit four games this season for use of an ineligible player. Acadiana officially stands at 5-5, unofficially stands at 9-1, and most certainly stands as a looming challenge for the Wildcats, who now face a team that ended the regular season ranked ahead of them in the Louisiana Sports Writers Association poll (Acadiana was fifth, East St. John was seventh).

“I already knew in terms of power points that Acadiana was probably who we were looking at,” said Barrilleaux.

The result is that what seems to be considered by most as the prep game of the week will be contested at Joe Keller Memorial Stadium Friday night.

Acadiana has played East St. John three times in the past three seasons, winning each time. Ironically, in 2008, it was ESJ visiting Acadiana in the first round as 27 seed. It fell 28-21, just as it did in that season’s opener.

Ted Davidson at that time called East St. John “the best 27 seed ever.”

It has competition, now.

Acadiana is still decidedly run heavy, relying on a stable of backs and a big, mauling offensive line to move the football.

“They come off the ball and hit you in the mouth,” said Barrilleaux. “Six or seven yards every play, then break off a couple of big runs. And they’re gonna want to eat clock and keep our offense on the sideline.”

That would be wise, as East St. John (9-1) has been completely unconscious offensively this season. The Wildcats average 42.7 points per game and have been held under 40 only once, at Rummel, a game in which four Wildcats touchdowns were called back via penalty.

Though coach Larry Dauterive resigned last month after making a speech at a New Orleans Quarterbacks Club meeting that sparked controversy, the team has not missed a beat under Barrilleaux, scoring 49, 41 and 41 in its last three games.

Acadiana has lost one game on the field this year, to undefeated St. Thomas More, but has won five in a row before taking forfeits into account. That run includes a 63-0 win over Breaux Bridge and a 56-33 win over Lafayette.

To stem that kind of scoring, Barrilleaux wants to see the defense played against Hahnville on Friday continue. In its 41-16 win, the Wildcats gave its best effort all season defensively, including a pair of defensive scores.

Nathan Anderson’s 100-yard interception return denied Hahnville a potential touchdown and essentially slammed the door on the Tigers’ comeback effort in the fourth quarter. He broke on an out pattern as Hahnville faced a third-and-goal from the ESJ 5 and took the resulting interception the distance down the left sideline with 7:07 left in the game, making it 35-16.

It was Anderson’s first interception.

“I just never had that opportunity before, but it was the one thing that was missing,” said Anderson. “I saw it coming, the way they were lined up … I knew he wasn’t going to throw it inside.”

It was the second of two interception returns for scores, the other coming via defensive tackle Dathan Thomas, who secured his pickoff and score.

“He’s awesome,” said quarterback Darion Monroe. “He’s a running back in a big guy’s body.”

Monroe accounted for four touchdowns and D’haquille Williams hauled in a pair of scores