By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. John Parish produced a pair of district champions, a state semifinalist and plenty of highlights this football season, and its best and brightest are honored in this issue of L’Observateur with the announcement of the 2013 All-St. John Parish Football Team.

West St. John’s Jeremy Jackson earns this year’s nod as All-Parish Offensive MVP after leading the Rams offense to an average of 42.4 points per game this season. On the defensive side, two East St. John teammates share the honor of this season’s Defensive MVP: seniors Darren Williams and Amani Martin, who paired to lead a ferocious stop unit at Joe Keller Stadium all season long.

Jackson is also joined on the team by his coach, West St. John’s Robert Valdez, who earns Coach of the Year honors for the second straight season after leading West St. John to the state semifinals.

Jackson took over the role as the Rams’ featured back this season after the graduation of Kylum Favorite. He proved to be the perfect weapon in West St. John’s spread no-huddle attack, posting gaudy numbers weekly no matter if his carries totaled five or 25: he finished with 1,797 rushing yards and scored 38 total touchdowns, including 27 rushing, seven receiving and four on kickoff returns. Jackson averaged more than 11 yards per carry this season.

Williams was East St. John’s most productive pass rusher this season — and that’s saying a mouthful, as the ESJ front four alone accounted for 56 sacks in 12 games.  Williams accounted for 18 of those with 23 tackles for loss. A  6-foot-4-inch, 240 pound Tulane commitment, he made 81 tackles on the year. He’s also drawn interest from Kansas State and UCLA. 

While Williams and his teammates on the line did damage up front, Martin provided the highlights on the backend. The senior safety made 145 tackles, most in the parish, which was only tells part of his impact: he made five sacks, forced four fumbles, intercepted three passes and recovered three fumbles for the Wildcats while also providing a scoring threat at any given time: his three defensive scores also led the parish. 

At quarterback, Riverside’s Deuce Wallace (1,762 yards, 22 touchdowns) and  West St. John’s Austin Howard (1,963 yards, 22 touchdowns) earn nods. 

The tailbacks are St. Charles’ Erron Lewis (1,275 yards, 23 touchdowns) and East St. John’s Nigel Anderson (1,315 yards, nine touchdowns).

Wide receiver is rounded out by RA’s Herb McGee (674 yards, nine touchdowns), WSJ’s Keith Miller (560 yards, seven touchdowns) and ESJ’s Kyle Patterson (467 yards, seven touchdowns).

The offensive line is comprised of ESJ’s Blaize Diaz, St. Charles’ Patrick Juneau and Austin Troxler, West St. John’s Ryan Cannon and Riverside’s Cameron Bivona. 

East St. John’s Xavier Lewis (25 total touchdowns, 2,697 all-purpose yards) earns the team’s “athlete” designation. 

On defense, all four East St. John lineman earn spots on the team: that’s the first time in the history of the All-Parish team that has happened. Davarian Stockman (12 sacks), Charlie Payne (12 sacks) and Lorne McGuffy (14 sacks) join Williams on the team. Riverside’s Joe Anderson (8.5 sacks) joins them as well.

At linebacker, St. Charles’ Connor Smith (54 tackles), West St. John’s Brandon Matthews (9 sacks) and Koi Rainey (67 tackles) and Riverside’s Evan Veron (seven sacks) earn spots.

At defensive back, SCC’s Connor Western (Four interceptions) and Jordan Favorite, West St. John’s Kylon Adams (four interceptions) and Riverside’s Brandon Hymel (two defensive touchdowns) are the selections. 

The kicking specialist is Riverside’s Tyler Gauthier (26 touchbacks).