West Monroe, Coleman run past Wossman
Equipped with two of the more notable recruits in northeast Louisiana, Wossman entered Friday night’s season opener with a point to prove against Class 5A power West Monroe.
West Monroe didn’t seem to care.
The Rebels shut down LSU commit Cam Lewis and Louisiana Tech commit Ladarrius Thomas on offense, while totaling 572 yards of their own in a 42-0 win over Wossman at Don Shows Field at Rebel Stadium.
Running back Trey Coleman accounted for 166 total yards and two touchdowns — one rushing, one receiving — and sophomore quarterback Slade Bolden totaled 61 yards and a score as West Monroe dominated a penalty-filled game.
"I try to show who's the best. I try to show my skills, and I'm sure they try to show theirs," Coleman said of the competition with Lewis and Thomas. "I try to compete the best I can all the time."
West Monroe and Wossman combined for 25 penalties — 14 in the first half and a whopping eight in the third quarter. Wossman was flagged 13 times and West Monroe had 12.
The Rebels allowed just 178 yards of total offense and shut down Thomas in the second half after the bruising running back rumbled for 76 yards on nine carries in the first 24 minutes of game action, recording runs of 23, 17 and 13 yards against West Monroe.
Thomas ended the night with 100 yards rushing but was kept out of the end zone.
"You win and lose ball games, skill people are great, but you gotta have linemen. We were able to win the battle up front," West Monroe coach Jerry Arledge said. "Usually, no matter how good your skill guys are, if you're better than an opponent up front on both sides of the ball, usually you're going to win the ball game. That's something we do every day."
"It's hard to win, I think, with just athletic ability if you don't have linemen. I'm not saying they don't have linemen, it's just that our linemen are better than their linemen."
Lewis, a safety prospect who plays quarterback for the Wildcats, was 9-of-18 for 77 yards and an interception. He added 13 yards on the ground.
Coleman, and the rest of West Monroe’s running backs for the that matter, had gaping holes all night as the Rebels piled up 368 rushing yards.
"He really ran with a lot of authority. Last year, I thought he was a good back, just a little old sophomore," Arledge said. "This year, he's added some weight and ran track this spring. He got a little faster but he's just maturing and that's what you hope the kids do. He's becoming a good running back."
West Monroe rotated three quarterbacks — Jon Randall Belton, Robert Scott Foust and Slade Bolden. Foust had the best throwing day with 120 yards on 8 of 17 pass attempts but was also picked off twice.
Belton, who is coming off a pair of ACL tears, accounted for the only touchdown through the air when he hit Coleman for a 29-yard touchdown in the second half.
"Jon Randall got a chance to play and took a hit or two and decided it wan't going to hurt him too bad," Arledge said. "That's a good thing. You gotta get a little battle tested. I couldn't ask for a better situation with three good quarterbacks."
West Monroe set the tone early with three rushing touchdowns in the first half.
Two plays into West Monroe’s first offensive possession, Coleman ripped off a 41-yard run to put the Rebels up 7-0 with 9:28 left in the first quarter.
"The line got cranking pretty early and helped open up the run for me in the first half," Coleman said.
Wossman gave West Monroe a short field following a three-and-out and an 11-yard punt to start the game.
Faced with another short field near the 50, West Monroe needed just four plays to take a 14-0 lead.
Fullback Charlie Harvin rumbled 20 yards to put the Rebels in the red zone, and Harvin finished off the drive with a 2-yard plunge.
Tre’bion Terry picked off a Lewis pass in the first quarter on what amount to a punt for Wossman. The Wildcats faced fourth-and-19 at the 50 as Lewis heaved it into double coverage down near the 20.