By Lori Lyons
Special to L’Observateur

EDGARD — While some teams look at the annual jamboree as nothing more than a glorified scrimmage or a dress rehearsal for the real thing, there are some who take the pre-season scrimmage much more seriously.

East St. John and West St. John fall into that latter category.

“It’s West St. John,” East St. John coach Phillip Banko said. “This is our Super Bowl.”

The teams kicked off two nights of jamboree action Thursday with the Marathon River Parishes jamboree in Edgard. West St. John hosted the game because East St. John’s field is undergoing some last-minute repairs in preparation for this week’s season opener. And while both teams’ coaches were pumped to play their cross-river rival, the game showed the obvious differences between the two.

The Class 5A Wildcats easily outnumbered, outmanned and simply outplayed the Class 1A Rams to take a 24-6 victory.

And it was East St. John quarterback Xavier Lewis who did most of the out-playing. The senior, who has committed to LSU, ran for all three of East St. John’s touchdowns, including an 80-yard sprint on the opening play of the second half. The 6-foot, 185-pound Lewis finished with four carries for 91 yards, completed two passes for 57 yards and threw two interceptions. He also had an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown that was wiped out by a penalty.

“He’s pretty special,” Banko said.

Overall, Banko was pleased with his team’s effort in its final tune-up before facing defending Division I state champion Rummel in Friday’s season opener. Place kicker Hector Barrera was a perfect 3-for-3 on PATs and kicked a 35-yard field goal to cap the scoring.

“It’s a game-scrimmage situation,” he said. “We’re trying to get ready for next week. We’ve got Rummel, they’ve got St. James. No one got seriously hurt to my knowledge, so that’s what it’s all about.”

On the not-so-positive side, the Wildcats racked up 121 yards in penalties, some of which proved quite costly.

“Yeah, that’s got to change,” he said. “We’ve got to work on that.”

On the other side of the field,  West St. John coach Robert Valdez was pleased that his team fought to the end and managed to move the ball successfully at times. Led by quarterback Jemoine Green, West St. John finished with more than 100 yards on offense and turned the ball over just once. Jamal Walters and Kie-Ave Harry nabbed interceptions for the defense.

“We fought,” Valdez said. “We had some injuries coming in, we had some come out and we’re going to make mistakes. We’re going to be young. We’re going to keep fighting. I’m proud of the way we fought. Xavier Lewis is Xavier Lewis. He’s going to make the plays he’s going to make. It’s up to us to learn from this and get better.”​