By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — Though it’s been there through four weeks of play, one might say that the target on the back of defending Class 3A state champion St. Charles Catholic grows even larger this week as the Comets prepare to enter District 7-3A play.

A season ago, that district proved to be among the most competitive in the classification, with five of the six 7-3A competitors reached the postseason.

But the top to bottom quality of the district was overshadowed by the dominance of its best team. The Comets not only captured the state crown, but St. Charles won its five district games by a combined score of 245-8, including a 49-8 victory over their opponent this Friday night, Donaldsonville.

Donaldsonville went 5-6 last season and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Marksville. This season, the Tigers are off to a tough 1-4 start, though their five predistrict contests were a tough slate in Assumption, Dutchtown, Dunham, Block and McDonogh No. 35.

The Tigers suffered a tough loss Friday night, letting a fourth quarter lead slip away to Block, which captured a 23-18 win on the back of a game-winning 83-yard drive that saw the Bears run 15 straight times, culminating in fullback William Cummings’ 3-yard game-winning touchdown.

Donaldsonville nearly rallied for the win on the back of quarterback Leandre James, but their two-minute drill came up short when James was tackled on a quarterback draw with nine seconds left at the Block 5-yard line; Donaldsonville was out of timeouts and the stop ended the game.

James, who triggers the Tigers’ spread offense, passed for 123 yards and rushed for 43 yards, scoring a touchdown in each of those two phases.

Block ran for 306 yards in that game, which suggests that St. Charles (2-2) has a chance to have another strong performance in the rushing department after besting Jeanerette 55-0 Friday in a game the Comets did not attempt a pass in.

Unlike St. Charles, Riverside is already two weeks into district play after suffering a loss in a shootout to South Plaquemines and, last week, another defeat at the hands of national powerhouse John Curtis.

While the Rebels (0-4, 0-2) were not expected by many to push Curtis — the defending Class 2A champions moved to the No. 1 spot in the nation in the Rivals.com rankings last week — Riverside coach Bill Stubbs talked for a long time with his huddled team after the game about the things he liked seeing.

Mainly, Stubbs said he was pleased with the strong effort his players showed from start to finish against a team that has steamrolled its competition thus far in 2012.

“Right now, we’re not playing with a lot of brawn. But we’re playing with a lot of heart. If we play with this kind of effort from day one, trust me, this team could have been 3-0 coming in.”

The Rebels will be chasing their first victory this season Friday night as they visit Cohen, a district foe that also enters the game winless at 0-4.

Riverside will enter this one as the favorite; while the two teams sport identical record, the process has been much different, as Cohen has been outscored 201-6 through contests with South Plaquemines, John Curtis, Clark and Southern Lab.

“We’re focusing on getting better. Honestly, that hasn’t changed from the outset of the season, regardless of our opponent,” said Stubbs. “In some areas, we’re really starting to put it together.

“Right now, this is the time of the year where we need to play with some urgency. We’ve had a lot of guys come over to our way of thinking and buying in. That’s encouraging.”

Cohen went 3-5 last season. Riverside defeated Cohen 56-20 last season.

An interesting wrinkle for those attending the game is the opportunity to see Riverside possibly expand upon the “Cheeto” formation it debuted against John Curtis. The set, which was installed just last week, involves quarterback Deuce Wallace lining up in a very deep shotgun at punter-depth and two backs lined up along side one another to take a direct snap.

When the play call is for a pass, one of the backs takes the snap, then pitches it back to Wallace.

“It’s kind of an elongated version of the single-wing,” said Stubbs. “It won’t be our mainstay. You want to run a more conventional type of offense and get away from being too gimmicky … but by the same token, it’s a package that we have that we’ll refine and be able to call upon.

“There are some elements that have come of it that I like. The kids seem to really like it as well.”

ꆱ