BY TJ FONTENOT

LSN STAFF WRITER

JEANERETTE – It wasn’t the best of games, but it was good enough for Rayne.

The Wolves (3-0) overcame sloppy field conditions and a late surge by Jeanerette, holding off the Tigers to claim a 27-20 road victory.

“It’s hard to play a clean game with few turnovers in sloppy conditions,” said Rayne coach Curt Ware following the contest. “But we both had to play on the same field.”

Those sloppy field conditions didn’t seem to bother the 10th-ranked Wolves early on as they struck for three touchdowns in the first 14 minutes of the contest.

Antonio Wheeler got the Wolves on the board just three minutes into the game with a 4-yard scoring scamper. Wheeler also played a part in the extra-point, picking up a bad snap before tossing a 3-yard pass to Aaron Chaisson to complete the conversion.

Four minutes later, the Wolves struck again.

A 22-yard pass to Perry Faucheux set up a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Tyler Venable with 5:43 remaining in the opening quarter.

Rayne added another score early in the second quarter when Zach Quibodeaux scored from three yards out.

Jeanerette answered back following a 50-yard pass to Dariun Hurst. Quarterback Kurt Bouie finished the drive with a 7-yard touchdown run.

The Tigers closed the gap to 20-14 just before the half when Wendell Hunt scored from seven yards out.

Wheeler added the Wolves’ final touchdown midway through the third quarter. After picking off a pass to give the Wolves the ball back, Wheeler hit paydirt from 10 yards out.

Jeanerette’s JaQualan Lewis cut the lead to 27-20 with seven minutes remaining on a 7-yard run.

The Tigers had one last shot with under a minute to play but Rayne’s Deontae Landry sacked Bouie, forcing a fumble which he then recovered to seal the victory.

“We can’t get a good lead and then become relaxed,” said Ware. “We have to play hard for all four quarters and we haven’t done that yet. When things get close, we have to improve on doing all the little things right. We have to worry about our assignments and not overplay.”