East Feliciana came in unbeaten on the season. The 12-0 Tigers brought a lot of speed to Metairie Friday night to take on John Curtis. The Patriots slowed East Feliciana down significantly.

The Patriots rushed for 306 yards, forced five turnovers and sacked Tiger quarterbacks nine times in a convincing 40-8 victory at Joe Yenni Stadium

It was a dominant performance by a dominant program. After being stopped on their initial possession, John Curtis ripped off 27 points in just 5:26 to seize control of the game.

The Patriots drove 66 yards in eight plays, scoring on a six-yard run by Quincy Smith to take a 7-0 lead with 3:46 to play in the first quarter.

After getting a quick stop, the Patriots drove 58 yards in five plays, scoring on a seven-yard run by Torrey Pierce to make it 14-0 with 35 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

After Curtis recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, quarterback Brandon Bourgeois rambled 11 yards for a score on a keeper to make it 21-0 with seven seconds to play in the first quarter.

On their first possession of the second quarter, the Patriots struck pay dirt again as Pierce scored on an 18-yard run to make it 27-0 with 10:20 to play in the first half.

East Feliciana gained a glimmer of hope late in the first half. On what J.T. Curtis called "a terrible call by the coach," Tekemian Ceaser picked off a pass in the left flat and returned it 61 yards for a touchdown. A two-point conversion by quarterback Kendall Beckwith cut the Curtis lead to 27-8 with 3:35 to play in the first half.

That spark was quickly extinguished by the Patriots, who answered with a 10 play, 57 yard drive with Bourgeois connecting with Josh Hanberry on a slant pattern to make it 33-8 at halftime.

After a scoreless third quarter, the Patriots put the finishing touches on an impressive victory as Curtis recovered a fumble and needed just two plays to score.

Raekwon Jones ran 43 yards to the East Feliciana two-yard line and then scored on the next play to cap the scoring at 40-8.

J.T. Curtis felt that his team was ready to play and it showed from the start of the game. "I thought we played well in the first half and I felt good going in at halftime.

They are a big-play team. I felt we did a good job at controlling the ball and not letting them have it as much as they would like to have it. We didn't get the ball in the end zone on a couple of occasions but overall, we did a good job," said Curtis.

"Our offensive line did a great job and you could see of those guys up front physically. To me, the big play of the game was the pass from Bourgeois to Hanberry right before the half. It stopped their momentum of the touchdown they had just scored.

I thought out defensive front four did a great job of staying in their lanes and got pressure on their quarterback all night." Curtis added.

Pierce led the charge for Curtis, carrying 20 times for 134 yards and two scores. Quincy Smith added 12 carries for 105 yards and a touchdown.

For the Tigers, Beckwith completed 13 of 18 passes for 134 yards but he was intercepted twice and lost a fumble. Tekemian Ceaser caught five passes for 64 yards to go with his interception return for a touchdown.

With the win, John Curtis improved to 12-1 and will move on to face a rematch with second-seeded Evangel for the 2A state championship next Friday evening in a game you can listen to on WGSO, 990 AM.

Last year, Evangel stopped Curtis 18-13 for the title. Evangel pulled away late to beat St. Charles Catholic 35-15 Friday night.

While East Feliciana had a great season, has a great future and moves up to 3A in 2010, the old guard was too much for the new guy Friday night.