John Ehret downs East Jeff for second time to advance to regional round

Rematch games are never going to easy and No. 14 John Ehret did not expect that to be the case with District 8-5A rival and 19th seed East Jefferson on Friday night at Hoss Memtsas Stadium.

It was not easy but the Patriots easily handled their business, beating the Warriors 43-26 in the opening round of the Class 5A state playoffs.

Jerzey Brown returned an Arthur Oliver interception 53 yards for a touchdown to give Ehret an early 7-0 lead.

Following a fumble recovery, Terrance Coleman raced 41 yards for a score to make it 15-0 following a 2-point conversion.

Zavion Thomas extended the lead, returning a punt 63 yards for a score and it was 22-0.

East Jefferson finally got on the board when Oliver Lee with an 8-yard touchdown pass to make it 22-6 following a missed extra point.

Ehret answered when Royal Falgout ran 30 yards for a score and the 2-point conversion made it 30-6.

Oliver pulled East Jefferson a little closer before the half when he ran 26 yrds for a touchdown to make it 30-12 at halftime.

The Warriors made it closer when James Lee scored on a 12-yard run to cut the deficit to 30-18 in the third quarter but that was as close as East Jefferson would get.

Charles Coleman and Falgout added scores for Ehret as the Patriots pulled away for the victory.

Speaking on The Original on 106.1 FM Friday night, Ehret coach Reggie Rogers was pleased overall with his team’s performance.

“When you are playing a familiar opponent, you’ve got to put them away,” Rogers said. “Our district is getting better. In fact, 8-5A is much better. Hats off to them. They were a great opponent. We made plays on offense and defense to get the job done.”

Rogers knows there are things to improve on if Ehret wants to advance beyond the regional round.

“We have to go back to work,” Rogers said. “The opponent is going to get stiffer every week in the playoffs, the opponent is that much better. We’re still rather young in spots so we have to learn how to put teams away.”

The Patriots face a tough task at unbeaten No. 3 seed Ponchatoula next Friday night at “The Swamp.” The Green Wave handled No. 30 Lafayette 46-6.

“I look forward to playing Coach (Hank) Tierney,” Rogers said. “The Patriots are going to be ready to play. We’ll show up and we’ll be ready. I know Hank will have his team ready.”