By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

EDGARD — Heavily favored and a week removed from its signature win of the season, it would be natural to have expected a letdown for West St. John on Friday night as it hosted East Iberville, just a week before the beginning of the Class 1A postseason.

Think again. These Rams mean business.

West St. John made those thoughts seem silly, coming up with a 65-8 rout of the visiting Tigers.

“No let down at all,” said West St. John coach Robert Valdez. “The kids had a chance to close strong and to put together a performance like this .. It’s a promising thing to see. My hat’s off to our coaches and to our players for staying so focused.”

The Rams’ Kylum Favorite needed just six carries to rack up 151 yards and two touchdowns. Austin Howard went 8 of 9 for 130 yards and a score.

But alongside those underclassman, the school’s “Senior night” saw a number of those honored shine brightly. Lawrence Williams scored a touchdown on a two-yard run, while Tevin Smith scored two of his own. Austin Terry scored another, and Sean Cannon scored twice, one of those coming on a 70-yard run. Jarius Moll also scored two touchdowns, including his second punt return for a score in as many weeks.

West St. John (8-2, 5-0) outgained East Iberville (6-4, 1-4) in yardage, 449-173.

Moll also made a big impact defensively, hauling in two interceptions.

West St. John led 46-0 at halftime.

Howard connected with Smith for a 45-yard touchdown to start things off for WSJ, and a Cannon 9-yard run made it 13-0. Moll scored on a 1-yard run to push the lead to 20-0 after a quarter, and WSJ never looked back. East Iberville scored its lone touchdown in the third quarter.

West St. John projects to be between No. 3 and No. 6 in the Class 1A power polls and will host a first round game.

“Our offensive line blocked extremely well, and our defense really shut them down,” said Valdez. “We executed at will.”