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By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

 

EDGARD — Time and time again, Austin Howard used his arm — and his legs — to make plays and extend drives for the offense in West St. John’s intrasquad spring football scrimmage Monday.

It served as a strong reminder that while other teams in the area have had to reshape their offenses this spring behind new passers, the Rams are a step ahead of the game with the backbone of its offense established behind a veteran passer in Howard and a returning All-State rusher in Kylum Favorite.

It was enough to lift the offense over a very game and impressive Rams’ defense by a score of 17-11.

“I was pleased with our effort,” said West St. John coach Robert Valdez. “We made mistakes today, some boneheaded mistakes at times. But all of that is correctable.

“You can’t coach effort or intensity. That has to come from within those guys. We had both today.”

The scrimmage saw the offense earn points via touchdowns (6) and first downs (1). The defense earned points via interceptions (3) and forced “punts” or turnovers on downs (1).

The first team offense and defense essentially went head to head throughout the duration of the scrimmage, due in part to injuries depleting the Rams’ available players.

“We’ve got to get healthy,” said Valdez. “We’ve got seven or eight guys out. Still, I was pleased with some of the things we were able to do in such a small period.”

Each side of the ball showed flashes of the talent that could lift the Rams to a repeat trip to the Superdome.

The defense struck first, stopping the offense on its third play of the day when Justin Bethancourt intercepted Howard off of a deflection to give the defense a 3-0 lead.

The offense answered on its second possession with its best drive of the evening, one resulting in the scrimmage’s lone touchdown. Favorite sparked things with a 19-yard run to earn the Rams their first point. A few plays later, WSJ converted a fourth and four when Howard connected with Favorite for a 10-yard gain to cross the 50.

Howard scrambled for 12 yards, which earned a first down and tied the game at three. Two plays later, he uncorked a pass downfield to Chris Shavers, who hauled in a 28-yard reception down to the Rams’ 1-yard line.

Shavers was impressive at wide receiver for much of the night in his on-field debut for the Rams — the junior a standout basketball player for WSJ, did not play football last season.

“We’re very excited about his potential,” said Valdez, who is looking for someone to step into the lead receiver role vacated by the graduating Jarius Moll. “He’s a very tough kid who made some great catches down the field tonight.”

Favorite punched in the touchdown on his first opportunity, running left for a 1-yard score to make it 10-3.

While the Rams wouldn’t score again, there were chances for the offense to bust things open. One such occasion saw a pretty pass from Howard to Favorite go for an apparent 77-yard touchdown; a block in the back well behind the play negated the score, however, and the play would go for a 30-yard gain. The drive stalled after more penalties.

There was also an ugly stretch that saw three consecutive drives — and plays at that — end in fumble recoveries for the defense.

“Our kids understand that we have work to do,” said Valdez. “Guys won’t be complacent.”

The offense recovered enough to drive across the 50 on its next possession, but that drive stalled after a sack of Howard by Dontre Turner, who was prominent as a playmaker all night.

“If I had to pick someone to walk down a dark alley, I would probably pick Dontre,” said Valdez. “He’ll hit you … he hit Austin tonight and kinda told him to suck it up. He doesn’t care.”

That kind of intensity carrying over into the regular season seems certain for a team stocked full of players who came just one victory away from bringing West St. John its first state championship since 2004 — its 41-21 title win over Sterlington netted the Rams the Class 2A crown that year. 

“It’s been a long, empty feeling for all of us to come so close without winning it,” said Valdez. “It’s no secret that we want to get back. That’s what you play for.”