West Monroe takes home shutout win over Ouachita, 20-0

WEST MONROE – A lot of talk during the offseason was how so many moving pieces had to go right for the West Monroe defense to be on par with the 2018 runner-up squad because of a mass of graduating talent.

The 2019 Rebel defense has answered the call to arms in mighty way and recorded its second straight shutout on Thursday, 20-0, at Ouachita.

The Rebels forced three turnovers and WMHS quarterback Lane Little rushed for two touchdowns smothering the Lions on the home field for West Monroe to grasp its 93rd consecutive district win and improve to 7-1 overall, 3-0 in district.

The Rebel defense turned back Ouachita on three occasions inside the 10-yard line and forced three turnovers including an interception in the endzone by Brooks Miller. Later, Peyton Todd picked off a pass and returned it to the Ouachita 15-yard line to set up a West Monroe score.

“We have a lot of seniors out there, and they know how important it is that the other team doesn’t score,” WMHS defensive coordinator Tony Osborne said of the Rebel’s knack for red zone defense. “I think they take a lot of pride in that. We’ve got 11 guys trying to get to that football. They want to see on film that they aren’t standing around. Our defensive line and linebackers are doing a good job of moving around, they work it everyday and they know if they can get to the quarterback then we have a better chance in the back end, and they have done a good job of that.”

A week after taking down West Ouachita 34-0, West Monroe overcame some early offensive woes, leading just 7-0 at halftime, to churn out big yards in the second half.

Little was popped hard on the first offensive play for the Rebels and a deep pass sailed high and was intercepted by the Lions.

“The first quarter was awful, I had to bench two starters on the offensive line,” WMHS offensive coordinator Glenn Hunt said. “I don’t know what the deal was, if we weren’t focused or what. But, we were a lot better in the second half.”

Hunt said the team must find a way to move the ball more effectively as the playoffs near.

“We have to be more efficient offensively,” Hunt said. “We can’t have offsides and holding penalties with what we are doing offensively now. We can’t have negative yardage.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Little found the endzone on a six-yard run. At almost the exact same point in the following quarter, Little again busted through from four-yards out to give the Rebels a two score lead. Javari Sanders scored on a six-yard run with under a minute left in the third quarter.

Running back Dee Williams led the way with 115 yards on 15 carries. Cayden Pierce carried 18 times for 105 yards and Little finished with 35 yards as the Rebels rushed for 273 yards as a unit.