By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — As coach Phillip Banko put it, nobody wanted to invite East St. John to the dance in 2012.

But a team many counted out after Hurricane Issac indeed found a date: Airline, in this case, the fifth seeded team in Class 5A who will host East St. John Friday night.

“They’re number five in the state, and they’re worthy of that,” said Banko. “They bring an offense of all seniors. They’ve got a bunch of guys ticketed for college …

“We’ve got a lot of work to do and a long trip ahead of us. But we’re gonna have fun with this. We’re happy to be in this thing, and we’re going out there to make our community proud of the Wildcats.”

In truth, there are likely very few locals who have followed the Wildcats’ story this season and that aren’t proud — or downright impressed for that matter. Hurricane Issac flooded East St. John and left a football team with every reason to miss the Class 5A postseason, which is a tough cookie to crack even in ideal circumstances.

But Banko’s team wouldn’t die. Not after an 0-3 start, nor after an early district loss to Hahnville or after the season-ending ankle injury to top playmaker Dez Broussard.

It just wouldn’t die. Not after everyone and their brother buried them.

“This is a hungry bunch,” said Banko. “Our first practice right after the win last week, everyone was there and accounted for 10 minutes after the bell. They’re focused. We’re going on a business trip.

“Nobody’s giving us a chance, but that’s okay. Nobody gave us a chance to get here.”

East St. John will travel over six hours to Bossier City. Awaiting them is the co-champion of District 1-5A, Airline splitting the crown with Byrd after losing a heartbreaker to the latter last week, 31-30.

Airline boasts a high-powered offense, scoring 30 points or more in nine of its 10 games this season. Quarterback Hayden Hildebrand captains that attack; he’s passed for over 2,000 yards this season.

“They love him out there, and for good reason,” said Banko. “They’re averaging 38 a game. They’ve got a good running back and three very dangerous wide receivers.

“They’re playing very good football. But you know what? So are we.”

Indeed, on paper this is the classic offense vs. defense matchup. While Airline has spent the last month lighting up scoreboards, East St. John’s defense has been collecting stop after stop. Bonnabel secured just two first downs all of Friday night in the Wildcats’ 25-12 win.

East St. John started eight sophomores in that game, though as Banko put it, “they’re no longer sophomores” at this point.

“We had four sacks, six quarterback hits and five pressures,” said Banko. “Offensively, we grinded out 451 yards and ran almost 90 plays. I like how we’re going into this thing.”

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