East St. John coach Philip Banko put the result of his first game as Wildcats head coach, a 35-7 loss at Carencro, in simple terms.

“The better team won tonight,” he said. “I know that much. We’ve got some things that we need to work on. This showed us what those things are. And we thank them … that’s a very good team, and we’ll be a better team ourselves for having played them.”

The Wildcats had scoring opportunities, but too often the offense bogged down in the redzone. ESJ failed to convert on four trips inside the Carencro 20.

“We also forced two turnovers and we didn’t take advantage of those,” said Banko. “You have to make teams pay for that. You have to make them pay when you get into the redzone. It’s something we’re going to do.

Banko refused to use the wide-ranging poor weather conditions as any kind of reason for his offense’s shortcomings.

“Their defense had a whole lot to do with it. They’ve got two war daddies on that side of the ball,” he said.

“They lined up and outplayed us. I can’t stress that enough. They made more plays than we did, no excuses,” said Banko. “My hat is off to that team, those players and their coaching staff … We had some miscues tonight. Some of our younger guys … I take the blame there. Guys that should be playing freshman ball, I’ve called into action early because they’re our best options. It’s on me to get them ready, to help them get better. And that’s what’s going to happen.”

ESJ will return to action Friday for its home opener against St. Louis.