Riverside beats St. Martin’s again, advances to state semifinals

METAIRIE – Riverside Academy has been doing serious work so far this season. The No. 5 seeded Rebels survived a physical battle against Catholic-Point Coupee last week to advance to the state quarterfinals.

The latest challenge along the way was a meeting with No. 4 seeded St. Martin’s, a district rival looking for redemption. It didn’t matter. The Rebels came up big in the clutch, advancing to the state semifinals for the first time since 2016 with a 26-14 victory on Friday night at Tony Porter Field.

Riverside (11-1) set the tone with an 80 yard drive on 16 plays, melting seven minutes off the clock. Dedric Lastie scored a five-yard touchdown giving the Rebels a 6-0 lead.

St. Martin’s (9-2) got things going in the second quarter with a 52-yard drive on five plays. Harlem Berry scored an 11-yard touchdown to give the Saints a 7-6 edge.

The Rebels got back up and never looked back. Lastie took off like a rocket and scampered for a 70-yard touchdown tht put Riverside out 12-7 at the half.

“We were prepared. We knew that this game wasn’t going to be easy as the first game,” said Lastie. “We had to come in and everybody had to do their job. Defense came up big. We do two-minute drill at practice. Sometimes they lose or they get stops. They always make the corrections they need to make. This is everything we wanted. We’re here now.”

Both teams leaned on the defenses for most of the third quarter before Riverside struck again with a 20-yard touchdown by Lastie extending the lead to 19-7.

The Rebels put the game out of reach as Brock Bourgeois connected with Kenric Johnson for a 24-yard touchdown to make it 26-7.

St. Martin’s continued to fight all the way to the end. Ashton Oliver scored a 20-yard touchdown followed by a Saints recovery of an onside kick. The Rebels defense shut the hosts down with three of their seven sacks on the night including sacks by Ahmad Cage and Noah Trepagnier.

Riverside had 268 yards of total offense that includes 192 rushing yards and 76 passing yards. Lastie led the Rebels with 22 carries for 188 yards and three touchdowns. Bourgeois finished with 7-of-10 passing for 76 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Johnson had three catches for 42 yards and a touchdown.

“Our offensive line had a good year but the last two weeks wasn’t as easy. He (Lastie) kind of created one of the big runs,” said Riverside Academy Head Coach Lee Roussel. ”There wasn’t a whole lot there but he when sees something, he hits it to a second gear. He’s a great kid and he deserves all the accolades. I push him, I love him and he deserves all that. Our defense has won it for us the last two weeks. To hold 25 (Berry) to seven points, I don’t care how you do it that’s tough. I’m so happy for our kids to be playing in the semifinals.”

St. Martin’s had 267 yards of total offense including 244 on thr ground. Berry led the Saints with 12 carries for 149 yards and a touchdown. Oliver finished with 16 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown. Despite the disappointing end to their season, St. Martin’s will have multiple starters returning next season with Berry and Oliver leading the way.

“Our kids never quit and kept believing in what we were doing. They played hard and defensively so improved,” said St. Martin’s Head Coach Kevin Dizer. “Unfortunately with us playing two ways took away our offensive explosion. Something had to give and we did our best to stay in the football game. We have one more year with Harlem Berry and we have to take advantage of this the best we can. We also have a really good senior group that’s coming back with him and I’m excited for that.”

Riverside will travel to top-seeded Vermillion Catholic next Friday night in the LHSAA Division IV Select State Semifinals.

Postgame Coaches: