Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Tara Williams

Exciting and exhilarating are the best words to describe the River Parish football action on Friday night. Several local teams played as they represented their high schools magnificently in the first round. Five teams played on Friday night: St. James, West St. John, Lutcher, Destrehan and Hahnville. And what amazing games these turned out to be. All these teams except one, Hahnville, will advance to the second round.

The Lutcher Bulldogs did a fantastic job of holding off the Carroll Bulldogs, who were favored to win. Lutcher scored the first score of the game and from beginning to end was a hard fight. The lead consistently changed throughout the game as each team went score for score. In the end, the Lutcher Bulldogs won the dogfight and came out victorious with a final score of 31-27.

St. James Wildcats definitely came to fight as they shut out their opponent the entire first half. Coming into the second half they still held a considerable lead until the fourth quarter. Although N. Webster managed to score in the fourth quarter, it wasn’t enough to take the lead over St. James, and the Wildcats came out victorious with a final score of 34-20. They, too, advance to the second round.

The Destrehan Wildcats, who came into the game with an undefeated District record, also came away with a win to solidify their second round position. The Wildcats virtually shut out their opponent, West Jefferson, until late in the third quarter. The Wildcats played an awesome game, holding their opponents to 14 points, something they have managed to do almost all season. They finished the game with a final score of 48-14 and advance to the second round.

The Hahnville Tigers had to travel five hours to Benton to play due to technicalities stemming from the forfeit from De La Salle earlier this season. The Tigers came out strong and fought hard against Benton. The lead changed many times throughout the game, but a missed extra point and penalties would haunt the Tigers later in the game. The Tigers were down going into the fourth quarter but tied the score late in the game. However, a 90-yard kickoff return put Benton in the front seat and was the last score of the game. The Tigers took a loss in the first round with a final score of 31-38. The Tigers had a great season, despite all of the challenges this year, and we congratulate them on a job well done.

The West St. John Rams played a fabulous game to shut out their opponent, Block, and took the victory as well. Their final score was 28-0, allowing them to advance to the second round.

St. Charles Catholic, after having an undefeated season, had a bye this week and advanced to the second round. We congratulate all of the athletes for their spectacular play this week and look forward to more exciting football action next week.