By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – For two years and 23 games in total, St. James went winless.

Now, the Wildcats are headed back to the playoffs.

St. James punctuated a comeback regular season for its program with a 51-6 victory over Cohen, the Wildcats led by freshman quarterback Lowell Narcisse, top wide receiver D’kwan Sandolph and a ferocious defense that allowed just 77 yards of total offense.

St. James (4-6,  4-3) led 51-0 after three quarters.

Cohen dropped to 0-10 on the season.

“It’s huge for our program and our future that, after the last two years, we’ve gotten back to being a playoff team,” said St. James coach Dwain Jenkins, who leads the team back there in his first season as SJH head coach. “This is definitely something we set as a goal for ourselves before the season. A lot of people didn’t pick us to win more a game, but we were focused on finding a way to get better.”

Narcisse tossed a career high six touchdown passes, three of those to Sandolph, and rushed for another. Narcisse completed 11 of 18 pass attempts for 215 yards and rushed 10 times for 50 yards. Sandolph hauled in five receptions for 141 yards. Qui Adams caught three passes for 58 yards and two touchdowns. Ricky Nelson and Fabian Steib each hauled in touchdown receptions as well.

“We knew it would take a little time when we made the call to go with Lowell at quarterback as a freshman,” said Jenkins. “We thought he’d have to rely on his athleticism early as he learned to play quarterback, but we’ve found him to be a true quarterback.”

Sandolph was the team’s quarterback in each of the last two seasons before making the move to receiver in the preseason. He ends the regular season as the River Region’s receiving leader, with 43 receptions for 829 yards and 10 touchdowns.

“As the season’s progressed, he’s fallen in love with the position,” said Jenkins, who said the senior has received attention at the next level. “(College) coaches would come in and ask if he can play defensive back, another position … 900 yards and 10 touchdowns isn’t bad for a guy who just converted. We think he’s found a position to play at the next level.”