Unbeaten Rams won’t sneak up on Blazers, only team to beat LCCP in district game in three years

Published 7:00 pm Wednesday, October 6, 2021

The Westlake Rams will be hoping history repeats itself when it hosts the Lake Charles College Prep Trailblazers Friday night in a District 4-3A opener.

Two years ago the Rams, 0-4 at the time, sprung an upset on the Blazers, blowing them out 55-13. It’s the lone district loss for the Blazers in three years.

This time around the Rams are 5-0 and hoping to compete for the district title. Quarterback Jamaal Guillory (788 rush yds., 11 TDs) and running back Brandon Jupiter (562 yds., 9 TDs) lead an offense that averages 38 points per game. Linebacker Ethan Koonce and a big, experienced defensive line spur a defense that allows 16 points per game.

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They’ll be tested by Prep, which features LSU commitment running back TreVonte Citizen (713 yds., 11 TDs) and future Louisiana Tech wide receiver Keshlon Jackson (356 yds., 4 TDs).

“We’ve played well against the run so far, but Citizen will be the best back we’ve faced,” Rams head coach John Richardson said. “We’re going to have to gang tackle him, keep him in front of us and swarm to the football.

“Defensively, they give you a lot of different looks and they have speed everywhere.”

Richardson said the Rams will need to avoid inconsistency.

“I don’t think we’ve had a game yet where we’ve played well for all four quarters,” he said. “We’ll need to do that against Prep. They’re an outstanding team.”

Elsewhere

St. Louis (3-2) will host Jennings (1-4) at Sulphur. The Saints have won two in a row while the Bulldogs are looking to bounce back from a loss at Sterlington last week.

“Everybody starts off 0-0 at this point,” Jennings head coach Rusty Phelps said. “Everyone is chasing the district title and hopefully we have improved enough and can keep getting better.

“Last Friday night we ran into a problem where we kept getting into the red zone but not getting any points out of it. We need to get more consistent at that. Sterlington did a good job of stopping us down there.”

The Bulldogs are adjusting on the fly offensively with star Trevor Etienne moving from running back to quarterback to replace injured Austin Ewing. Etienne ran for 143 yards but was held out of the end zone for the first time all season. He completed 4 of 15 passes for 50 yards.

“It went fine,” Phelps said. “They had two or three guys assigned to him at Sterlington. We have to rely on our running backs there. Those two guys (Jamaric McZeal and ReJohn Zeno, who combined for 125 yards and a TD) did a good job of running the football. We have to be balanced back there with the carries so it can open things on the perimeter for us.”

Phelps said St. Louis has been good across the board.

“St. Louis attacks defensively and with the pressure they have an opportunity to create turnovers,” he said. “Offensively they are fast paced and have a good balance with run and pass. They’re a good football team.”

Iowa (5-0) will look to continue its winning ways at South Beauregard (1-4) which picked up its first win last week. Golden Knights quarterback Jesse Shuff and running back Ethan Jurquet combined for 186 yards and two touchdowns last week. Iowa shut out Pineville 42-0 last week and has held three opponents under 20 points.