By LORI LYONS

Special to L’Observateur

A sign by the gate at Vermillion Catholic Friday night proclaimed Friday night’s quarterfinal game against West St. John to be a rematch.

Last year the two teams battled through a shoot-out before West St. John eventually took a 54-41 win to advance to the Class 1A championship game.

The sign also read, “We got this”

Not quite. Actually, it was no contest.

West St. John dominated Vermillion Catholic on the way to a 41-20 win that will send the Rams on the road to Haynesville next week for the semifinals.

“We’ll go where we got to go,” Valdez said, after telling his team, “We won’t let anyone get in our way.”

About the only thing that slowed the Rams Friday night were the TV timeouts for the local broadcast. The team rolled up more than 400 yards of offense with five different players scoring touchdowns. Junior quarterback Austin Howard ran for two and passed for two, completing 15 of 21 passes for 231 yards and extended his streak to eight straight games without throwing an interception.

“He’s the catalyst that makes us go,” Valdez said. “We just give him the keys to the Cadillac and let him drive.”

Howard ran for a 2-yard touchdown and a 7-yard touchdown. He threw a 39-yard scoring pass to Timothy Nelson and a 14-yard scoring pass to Keith Miller. Kylum Favorite and Jeremy Jackson also scored on short runs.

“It was important that we set the tone early,” Howard said. “We know what it takes to get back to the Dome. “

That the Rams did.

With Howard directing, the Rams took the opening kickoff and went on a nine play, 65 yard drive in the game’s opening 6:28. On the first play from scrimmage, Howard connected with Jackson for a 21-yard gain. With a mix of short runs and passes to the outside, the Rams moved the ball with ease and Favorite scored from the 1 with 8:32 remaining in the opening quarter. Anfernee Lumar’s PAT gave the Rams a 7-0 lead.

But the Rams’ running game, which has been so effective this season, found little ground against the Eagles in the early going. On their second possession, the Rams gained five yards.

“We knew they were going to stop the run, stop the run, stop the run,” Valdez said. “We had to be able to throw the ball on them.”

The third possession was more productive. After a 13-yard run on a quarterback keeper, Howard hit Nelson for a 39-yard touchdown with 54 seconds to play. A missed PAT left the Rams with a 13-0 lead.

But Vermillion Catholic’s Dustin Desormeaux trimmed it quickly with an impressive display of speed as he returned the ensuing kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown that took 28 seconds off the clock. The Eagles would not score again until the fourth quarter.

West St. John added a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter to roll to a 27-7 halftime lead. The first capped a 56 yard drive that took up the first 4:42 of the second quarter and showed off Howard’s resiliency. After driving to the Eagles’ 2-yard line, Howard barreled his way through the line for the score. He was hurled to the ground after the play and stayed down for several minutes, writhing in the end zone, but eventually left under his own power. He returned for the Rams’ next possession, which was short.

After the West St. John defense shut down the Eagles at their ownS 39, a bad snap on the punt gave the Rams the ball at the 20. On third-and-3 at the 14, Howard dropped back to pass. He was just about to be blindsided when he stepped to his left, eluded the tackler and hit Keith Miller over the middle for the touchdown. He then threw to Lafarrin Stipe for the 2-point conversion, giving the Rams a 27-7 lead with 5:25 remaining in the half.

Vermillion Catholic had no answers for the Rams. The Eagles turned the ball over on downs at their own 42 with 4:18 remaining in the half. They had the ball at the West St. John 45-yard line in the final seconds of the half, but Brandon Matthews’ sack of Eagles quarterback Brennen Gallet ended the threat as time expired.

The Rams did not let up in the third quarter. Howard scored on a 7-yard run with 8:09 to make it 34-7. After an Eagles punt gave the Rams a short field, Jackson scored on a 5-yard run to make it 41-7 with 1:51 on the clock.

Then things got sloppy. The Rams were called for a slew of personal foul penalties in the fourth quarter and had a series of miscues. At one point West St. John went from first-and 10 at the Vermillion Catholic 29 to fourth-and-50 at its own 32 following a sack of Howard and a personal foul call. After that series, Vermillion Catholic got the ball at its own 40 and, thanks to another personal foul, was able to capitalize. With 6:02 remaining, the Eagles’ Michael Campbell scored on an 8-yard run to cut West St. John’s lead to 41-13.

After another stalled drive and a short punt, Vermillion Catholic got the ball at the Rams’ 26-yard line. From there, Gallet hit Joey Faulk for the game’s final touchdown with 3:05 to play.

“It got ugly late, but I’ll take it,” Valdez said. “A win’s a win.”