By John Glover
The Daily News

The Varnado High School Wildcats hosted the West St. John Rams on Thursday evening, as the Wildcats came out on the short end of a 24-6 loss.
The Wildcats were coming off their first season win the previous week against St. Martin’s Episcopal. The Rams were hoping to add to their three-game winning streak after beating Covenant Christian last week.
Despite multiple possessions by both teams, neither team was able to get within the 20-yard line until the end of the first half. After a grueling six plays, the Wildcats had moved the ball 15 yards to their own 44 with 15 seconds left in the half. Quarterback Caleb Allen passed to Zantonio Peters, who caught it at the Rams’ 19-yard line. With two seconds left, the Wildcats attempted a field goal. Brandon Lee’s attempt was deflected by the Rams as the buzzer sounded and the Rams started walking off field.
However, the officials had never called the ball down and no whistle had sounded. Peters ran over, scooped up the ball, and ran it in for the touchdown. The officials ruled that the scoring play was good and Varnado went on the board after a failed two-point conversion at the very end of the first half and led 6-0.
The Rams came back after the half with renewed spirit and got on the board in their second possession of the third quarter. After forcing the Wildcats to punt, the Rams took over at the Wildcats’ 29-yard line. Quarterback Alan Burl handed off to Kylan Duhe who broke through the Wildcats’ defense and put the Rams on the board. Burl’s two-point conversion attempt was good with a handoff to Duhe and the Rams led 8-6.
The fourth quarter rolled up with both teams still battling it out. The Rams put another touchdown on the board a minute in. Duhe, as quarterback, handed off to Wantrell Williams from the Wildcats’ 7 and he carried through for the goal. Duhe repeated the play for the successful two-point conversion and put the score at 16-6.
The Wildcats tried to answer but the Rams’ defense held strong. With four minutes left in the game, Duhe led the Rams on their last drive. From the Wildcats’ 8-yard line, Duhe handed off to Niko Roy who pushed through the line for the final touchdown. Duhe again was successful in the two-point attempt with a quarterback keeper, and the final score was 24-6 in favor of the Rams.
Varnado fell to 1-6 overall and 1-2 in district play. The Wildcats will be back in action Friday when they travel to face Houma Christian. Houma Christian is 5-2 overall and 1-1 in district after defeating St. Martin’s Episcopal, 51-20, on Thursday.