Larvadain burns bright with 6 touchdowns against Southern Lab

Published 8:28 am Saturday, October 24, 2020

RESERVE — “It’s been a long time coming for me as a head coach,” Kevin Dizer said moments after Riverside Academy snagged a 41-26 win over Southern Lab for a fourth consecutive win this season. 

Dizer’s first two seasons as head coach were rocky, but 2020 has proved to be a different story with an experienced Rebels squad headed by the mega talented senior quarterback Gage Larvadain. 

Dizer said it was a full circle moment to see how much Larvadain has grown since his sophomore season. During Friday night’s face-off against Southern Lab, Larvadain was responsible for all six touchdowns. His 55-yard touchdown reception was among the biggest plays of the game, along with a 15-yard touchdown reception that allowed the Rebels to stretch their lead to 21 with minutes left of the clock. 

Even more unbelievable than Larvadain’s performance pounding out touchdowns is the fact that the senior standout has zero scholarship offers on the table. That could very well change as the undefeated Rebels charge deeper into the 2020 season. Friday’s win brought the team’s record to 4-0 with the next opponent being Newman. 

Southern Lab was the first to reach the scoreboard Friday, though Larvadain and the Rebels quickly answered to tie the score at 7-7 by the end of the first quarter. The Rebels maintained a steady lead for the duration of the game, ending with a score 41-26 at approximately 10:30 p.m. 

Dizer was impressed with the effort he saw on the field, which presented a great improvement over last week’s gameplay.

“I thought it was awesome,” Dizer said. “I thought we were very undisciplined and very selfish the week before and I didn’t really see any of that tonight. I thought our kids played extremely hard, were extremely disciplined, and played for each other.”

Friday also marked a special senior night celebration in the home gym. Seniors on the team include Larvadain,  Chamar Jackson, Andre Murphy (WR/DB), David Reynaud (WR/DB), Keiahz Bernard (WR/DB), Nick Washington (DL/FB), Tairyn Lockhart (WR/DB), Robert Wells (DL), Trevone Brown (OL), Sammy Faucheux (OL), Logan Loving (DL), Colby Wilson (OL) and Myron Nicholas Jr (OL/DL). 

It was also a good week for the East St. John Wildcats, another River Parishes prep team boasting a 4-0 record after Thursday night’s win over Helen Cox. The E quickly built a 14-0 lead with four minutes remaining in the first quarter. Marcus Jackson delivered a touchdown to increase the lead to 22-0.

While Helen Cox put up a fight in the second half, the Cougars were no match for Wildcat Kylon Harris, who contributed two touchdowns to move the score to 37-12. The Wildcats found more success on a 80-yard kickoff return from Travis Turner that brought the score to 43-12 in the fourth quarter. The final score of the game was 43 Wildcats, 20 Cougars.

St. Charles Catholic did not fare as well this week. The Comets had only given up nine points across three contests when they entered Friday’s game against De La Salle. The Cavaliers proved too strong to overcome, defeating the Comets 21-0 for St. Charles Catholic’s first loss of the season.