RESERVE — Once again, the East St. John High Wildcats are wondering what went wrong.

Two weeks in a row, East St. John had its opponent against the ropes only to let a hefty lead slip away.

On Oct. 7 it was Destrehan, which came to Joe Keller Stadium thinking this would be easy, only to fall behind 13-0 early. Destrehan had to put together a furious second-half rally to take a 39-20 victory.

Last week Hahnville,  came to Joe Keller Stadium with lessons learned from Destrehan.

Still East St. John jumped to a quick 13-0 lead. Like Destrehan, Hahnville had to rally late to take a 41-20 win.

Now East St. John finds itself 2-5, 1-3 with three games remaining. This week the Wildcats travel to Houma to take on the Terrebonne Tigers (3-4, 0-3).

“We just have to learn how to win,” Wildcats coach Aldon Foster said. “We just have to finish. We’re making too many mistakes and hurting ourselves.”

Speaking of hurt, the Wildcats also are battling injuries.

Starter Marquise Darensbourg has struggled with a shoulder injury that has limited his play.  He did not start Friday, but did see action, completing 16 of 20 passes for 52 yards with one interception.

Sophomore Dasmain Crosby got the start against Hahnville and passed for 117 yards.

Freshman Shelvin Keller also saw some action, going 2-for-2.

Wide receiver C.J. Turner is battling a knee injury too.

Foster said he is trying Darensbourg at new spots to get the running game going.

“He’s the better power runner,” Foster said. “We have to use his athleticism where we can.”

The Wildcats defense will be tested again this week. Terrebonne, rolled up 457 yards in a  heart-breaking 47-45 non-district loss to Lakeshore on a last-second field goal. The kick came after Terrebonne was called for defensive pass interference on an interception.

St. Charles Catholic at Riverside Academy

Another week, another River Parishes rivalry game.

While the Riverside-West St. John game has lost steam over the years, nothing probably will stop the fire between St. John Parish’s two private high schools.

It pits neighbor against neighbor, sometimes family against family.

Of course, 2015 is still fresh in the minds of many fans after the teams met once in the regular season and again in the playoffs.

The Rebels won the first one, 35-3, for their first win over their archrivals in 14 years.

Five weeks later, the two met again in the Select semifinals with a trip to the Dome on the line. Riverside won that one 35-14 then lost the state championship game to Notre Dame, 13-3.

So it’s probably an understatement to say this week’s game is highly anticipated.

Riverside enters the game as the No. 5 team in Class 2A with a 5-1, 2-0 record.

The Rebels have won five games in a row after losing the season opener to Class 5A John Ehret, 16-13.

Last week the Rebels gave up an early touchdown and a late touchdown to WSJ on the way to a 49-15 win.

Jordan Loving passed for three touchdowns, Louis Cheneau ran for two scores and Kash Foley scored on a 51-yard run and an 89-yard kickoff return.

“Riverside is real scary,” said Comets coach Frank Monica. “They have no weaknesses that we can see that we can exploit. They have so many weapons. We’re really going to have to play over our heads in this one.”

SCC comes into the game unranked and a surprising 6-1.

Last week the Comets  had a break-out game against Newman, or rather a break away game.

Quarterback Lloyd Nash ran for 325 yards on 23 carries and scored two touchdowns in a 38-19 victory.

Sophie B. Wright

at West St. John

The Rams have struggled of late, losing a heart-breaker to Country Day on the last play of the game then getting run over by Riverside.

Quarterback Austin Alexander, left Friday’s game against Riverside with an injury to his passing hand.

De’Andre Gaudia came in to pass for 34 yards with one interception. Jamal Walters also lined up in wildcat formation on  several snaps to rush for 29 yards. He also threw a flea-flicker for a 52-yard touchdown to Kelon Gardner on the first play of the game.

The Rams host Sophie B. Wright. The Warriors scored their first touchdown of the season last week in a 48-8 loss to Country Day.