By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — The streets of Reserve must be littered with tailbacks. The Rebels found yet another Friday night.

Freshman Hardell Mack rushed for 77 yards on eight carries and scored four touchdowns to help lead Riverside to a 62-0 District 8-2A victory over visiting Cohen Friday night.

Mack scored on runs of 20, 33, 5 and 14 yards as he made his first career start. The usual Rebels rotation of Brandon Sanders and DeAndre Wilson was unavailable, Sanders due to an ankle injury and Wilson because of illness.

Two weeks ago, Wilson broke out  late against West St. John. This time, it was Mack’s turn.

“He’s really very good. He’s a prototype back,” said Riverside coach Bill Stubbs. “And he’s gonna run it more going forward. He’s gonna see more touches.’

“I thought we played well across the board tonight. Our one goal was to come out and get better as a football team, and I think we were able to do that.”

Deuce Wallace completed 10-of-13 pass attempts for 118 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He threw all of his touchdowns passes in the first quarter, connecting with Peyton Falgoust, Darrion Cook and Herb McGee.

Riverside (4-1, 2-0) rushed for 148 yards and passed for 145.

Stubbs said that Mack brings a different style of runner to the game. The Rebels have three runners with distinctive styles, something that can present an advantage.

“Maybe you can stop one, but it’s hard to stop all three guys,” said Stubbs. “They bring very different skill sets.”

He said Sanders’ injury shouldn’t be a long term issue.

Defensively, Chase Wallace and McGee each intercepted two passes. Evan Veron collected two sacks.

Jacob Loving and Cameron Bailey connected for a 32 yard score in the second half. Kendall Martin also rushed for a touchdown.

Cohen dropped to 0-5 overall, 0-2 in district play.