By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — Riverside brought its defense to go along with what has become a potent offense last week, as the Rebels recorded a 33-0 shutout win over Miller McCoy — Riverside has allowed just six points over its past two games, both wins.

The Rebels will need to sustain that improved defensive effort if it is to earn its third straight win this week. Riverside is set to visit Carver Saturday and the Rams sport an explosive offense.

Carver (4-2, 1-2) averages 44.3 points per game, its highest score actually coming in a loss; an unreal 72-68 shootout against Newman.

The Rams are led by quarterback Joey Louis, running back Eugene Brazley and receiver Raheem Falkins. Brazley is an Ole Miss commitment, while Falkins is committed to Alabama.

Brazely averaged over 11 yards a carry last week, rushing for 148 yards and three touchdowns. Falkins was relatively quiet last week, but the 6’5 star caught a pair of two-point conversions, reminding everyone of his redzone prowess.

“This is a team that can score from anywhere at anytime,” said Riverside coach Bill Stubbs. “Their quarterback is as good as anyone we’ll see. They’ve got a strong running back and three or four different receivers that can put up numbers.

“We’ve got to cover them all. When you realize that, it’s not rocket science as to why they’ve scored so many points this season.

Carver has topped 50 points three times this season, while the Rebels (2-4, 1-2) have done so twice.

Both teams sport identical district marks at 1-2, putting each a half game behind third place Newman (3-3, 2-2) in District 9-2A.

Stubbs said that Riverside must continue to run the football as effectively as it did last week in its win over McCoy. In that game, Jonquial Sanders topped 100 yards and averaged over seven yards a carry.

“We’ll need to have a good combination of pass-run. We’re not a power football team that can just line up and push it down your throat,” said Stubbs. “But we need to continue to run effectively, to keep them off the field and keep the game under control.”

*****

St. Charles is set for a big game of its own, with major District 7-3A implications.

The Comets are set to visit Brusly Friday; both teams enter without a district loss and both teams entered the season with the expectation of contending for the 7-3A crown.

St. Charles defeated Brusly 35-0 last season en route to its district — and then state — championship.

The Panthers (6-1, 2-0) have largely dominated their opposition this season, with two exceptions: a 31-29 victory over Plaquemine in their district opener, and a 13-12 loss to Livonia on Sept. 28.

Since that loss, though, Brusly has beaten two district foes soundly: it bested E.D. White, 43-7, then St. James, 55-22.

Both games were on the road.

Jay Christophe leads the Brusly Wing-T attack. Christophe passed for 116 yards and rushed for 87 in last week’s win over St. James, accounting for four total touchdowns.

DiMario Jackson, Brusly’s top rusher, led the Panthers again last week with 133 yards on 19 carries.

St. Charles began the season 0-2, but the Comets have come back with a vengeance since them, besting their last four foes by a combined 189-12 margin that resembles the pace the team was on in its 2011 championship run.

Offensively, the Comets have relied heavily on the run; SCC threw one pass in the two games prior to the Port Allen victory. Jemal Baptiste and Austin Weber each tosses a scoring pass in that game, though, while Weber rushed for 67 yards and another score.

“We need more balance than what we’ve had,” said St. Charles coach Frank Monica. “We’d like to pass a little more than we did (Friday), but we weren’t efficient enough to continue with it.

“We’ve made some bad decisions, some mental errors in the passing game that we need to eliminate. If we don’t, then it’s going to catch up to us fast.”

But the SCC defense stole the show on Friday. Luke Jackson came up with 3.5 sacks. Sean McGraw scored on a fumble return.

St. Charles held Port Allen to a three-and-out on six of its first eight drives and to 119 total yards — the Pelicans had drives of 39, 2, minus-7, minus-11, 2, 1, 8, 16, 54, 16 and 3 yards. The Pelicans entered the night averaging 36 points per game.