SCOTT The Southside Sharks had just entered the red zone with a six-point lead with 5:47 left to play, threatening to claim another huge parish win after knocking off St. Thomas More the week before.

But the Acadiana Wreckin' Rams had other ideas.

The Rams' defense forced a turnover on downs at the 19 with 3:15 to set up the heroic game-winning drive in Acadiana's dramatic 42-34 victory over the Sharks on Friday at Bill Dotson Stadium.

"Huge win for us," Rams coach Doug Dotson said. 'The challenge to our kids all week was kind of earning the respect back. We kind of lost some of that respect, but we played with a chip on our shoulder. You could tell it meant something to the kids tonight and I was glad to see that."

The decisive drive began with five straight runs by Dashun Lightfoot and why not? Back for the first time since the St. Thomas More loss on Sept. 25, Lightfoot collected 37 yards on those five carries to reach Southside's 44.

"It felt great to be back playing with my brothers," Lightfoot said. "I feel like nobody can stop us when we're all together."

Two plays later, though, the Rams faced a third-and-10. Coming out of a timeout, quarterback Cohen DiBetta scrambled and found wide receiver Gabriel Decuir, who made a diving catch at the Sharks' 2.

"I knew we had the post over the top," DiBetta said. "I saw the guy take Lightfoot, so I knew he wasn't going to be open. I stepped up and the dude came through. I really wasn't even trying to scramble. I went out and broke the first tackle and saw Gabe ... I didn't even see him catch it, because I was on the ground. I just heard everybody cheering. I'm just glad our O-line held up, so I could make that play."

Two plays later, DIBetta did the honors with a 1-yard touchdown run, before Josh Marquez booted the extra point for a 35-34 lead with 28.6 seconds left.

"This win was really important, because people were doubting us after we lost to Barbe and Sam Houston," DiBetta added.

It got even better for the Rams when linebacker Tylan Nolan returned an interception 25 yards for an add-on touchdown.

Lightfoot finished the game with 241 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries.

"Coming off two losses, everybody was doubting us," he said. "They didn't fear the gold helmet. Southside felt like we were scared."

.The first half began as a slow methodical, old-school football grudge match, but then came the big plays.

The Rams opened the game with a classic 19-play, 77-yard drive in 10:32 to take the 7-0 lead with 1:28 in the first quarter.  Ironically, the long drive was dominated by running the ball, but it was a 14-yard touchdown pass to Kacynn Ollison that did the trick.

"We want to burn the clock," Dotson said. "We'll dive you to death if you want. That's what we want to do. That first drive was impressive."

Southside responded a little quicker with a 15-play, 80-yard drive in 6:56 to answer. Quarterback Parker Dies finished the drive with a 1-yard TD drive, but the extra point was missed and Acadlana still led 7-6.

Incredibly, the Sharks only needed one more play to take their first lead. Southside linebacker Ethan Roque picked off a screen pass and ran it 21 yards for a touchdown. Dies ran in the two-point conversion for the 14-7 lead with 6:08 left until halftime.

That began some much shorter scoring drives. Lightfoot escaped for a 40-yard TD run on the third play of the ensuing drive to tie the game at 14-14 with 4:18 left.

"A healthy Lightfoot is worth two touchdowns," Dotson said.

The Sharks continued the seesaw battle when Justin Williams scampered 62 yards to give Southside its second lead of the night at 20-14 when the two-point run failed with 2:25 left until halftime.

Acadiana's late comeback spoiled a stellar night for Williams, who finished with 219 yards and two scores on 24 carries.

Somehow that gave Lightfoot time for two more scores.

The first one came on a 1-yard run, which was fitting because Lightfoot had gotten the Rams close on a 45-yard run to give Acadiana the lead again for good at 21-20 with 1:06 left.

Southside's offense tried to throw the ball with the clock running down in the first half and didn't connect on either pass. As a result, the Sharks punted, but Ollison returned the 35-yard punt to near midfield with 18.9 seconds left.

That was enough time for one play and Lightfoot found enough space for a 51-yard touchdown run to give Acadiana a 28-20 halftime lead. 

Lightfoot had 185 yards and three scores on 16 carries in the first half.

"After those two losses, the easy thing to do these days is to fold tent and quit," Dotson said. "We made a commitment two weeks ago before we played Sulphur that whoever's in the circle we're going to fight for 48 minutes every game."